3 ways the Red Sox can defy the odds in 2024
By Rick McNair
Red Sox bullpen will be a strength
Bullpens are a fickle paramour with performance swings replacing mood swings. What is constructed one season to withstand the big, bad wolf will fall victim to a metrics retread the following season.
The reasonably solid bullpen of 2023 should be more so in 2024. The top end is in good hands with closer Kenley Jansen unless management is tempted for another salary dump. Chris Martin operates as a formidable setup man.
Sometimes, shopping in the discount aisle has rewards, and you get Cooper Criswell and Brennan Bernardino, precisely what Chaim Bloom and Craig Breslow are doing. The list is substantial, and at first blush, you dismiss a Justin Slaten. Most will become roster fodder, but a few will flourish from the spring training carnage.
The bullpen strength is dependent on a loser's competition for the rotation. A Houck or Whitlock can work the 'pen, spot start, or get coffee for manager Alex Cora. That would depend on the need and additional rotation additions.
With or without the aforementioned glasses, our confidence is high in the bullpen. This may consist of baseball naivety or excessive amounts of questionable substances. Still, we're solid with this bullpen, especially if the rotation is no longer comprised of four innings and done.