The Bullpen Thread

[example1]

We all know the Sox need to address their bullpen, and they probably will as we head toward the trade deadline. This is a good place to discuss it.

 

This should also be a good place to discuss bullpen usage. Tonight the Sox were up 4 in the 6th inning but Manny Delcarman allowed the bases loaded with nobody out. Tito brought in Oki and he slowly got outs and gave up runs until they were up by only a run with two outs--then a single gave the Rockies the lead.

 

My question is why wouldn't they have used Daniel Bard in that situation? Whether with the bases loaded and nobody out, or as the outs increased and the game got closer. I understand avoiding "closer by committee" but Bard isn't the closer, he's the setup man and to me, that means he should be the bullpen fireman--the guy they bring in when the game is on the line before the closer would be used.

 

It seems like smart baseball to me. If Bard gets them out of the inning then the next pitcher is virtually guaranteed to be pitching at a lower leverage situation. Instead, it seems that not only has the closer/bullpen ace been solidified as the de facto last pitcher, but the setup man is the de facto second to last pitcher, regardless of game situation. :dunno:

 

Bullpen usage. Discuss here.

[Palodios]

The team will need atleast one more bullpen guy. With that being said, I really would like to see what Richardson/Manuel are capable of, and the FO is waiting before giving up on the new guys that have been successful in the past. The team will just have to make do with what they have until they can find a deal they like-- its been obvious how bad the bullpen is for a while, but there haven't even been rumors about bp trades..

[WhiskeyBreath]

This team needs to add a guy that is capable of pitching the 8th inning of a game. Bard is obviously going to be that guy but he is being overworked and it would huge for them to add a BP arm that can handle that task.

[italstallianion]

I'd love to get either Mike Adams or Luke Gregerson from San Diego. Hell, we could use them both.

[Station 13]

wrong thread.

[msubulldogs21]

Random thought but Scott Atchison has been doing a fairly respectable job here recently. Last weekend against LA he looked really good - I think he struck out 5 over 3 scoreless. I realize he's not going to carry the 'pen or anything, but he has been doing a pretty solid job as of late which is nice to see.

[yeszir]

I agree that managers should be more flexible towards the end of the game with their pitchers. 100% absolute defined roles are a little absurd when you could be helping the team out more by putting Bard in in place of a shaky Papelbon.

 

At what point does Bard become the de facto closer?

[Dojji]

At the point when they want Papelbon to demand a trade.

 

I still have full faith in Papelbon to turn it around. He had a period like this last year too and rose past it.

 

It always seems to shock us when Paps isn't perfect, but he's still better than the lion's share of the closers out there.

 

Also consider where his last 2 saves were blown. What, a power pitcher give it up at Coors Field? Shocking proposition.

[Dojji]

Bear in mind that the setup man gets the blame when he blows a save in the 8th but no credit under SV% for making a hold. SV% is a very unreliable stat but it's even worse when you use it for setup men.

[Palodios]

Oh really? Nevermind then, I just saw 7 career blown saves, and that stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

[Dojji]

Yeah, that's because any time a reliever blows a lead it counts as a blown save. For some reason some people think it's only a SVO when a reliever comes in in the 9th and that's just not true. It's a SVO when you were the last reliever to enter the game with your team ahead, either because the game ended or because you blew the lead. The scoring rules for saves were devised when relievers would still come in in the 7th and finish the game, so bear that in mind.

 

That's also why one game can have two blown saves, which actually IIRC happened last night.

[msubulldogs21]

Bear in mind that the setup man gets the blame when he blows a save in the 8th but no credit under SV% for making a hold. SV% is a very unreliable stat but it's even worse when you use it for setup men.

 

Beat me to it. Very misleading stat.

 

I wonder what Bard's numbers are in actual 9th inning save opportunities. I can't seem to recall him struggling that much. Regardless, Papelbon is the closer and needs to get right.

[Dojji]

Yeah it doesn't change the part where if Bard became the closer, Paps would want to be traded. Whether Bard is the better reliever or not, we still can't spare Paps.

 

You can talk about how BS that is, doesn't make it any less a fact.

[Palodios]

Beat me to it. Very misleading stat.

 

I wonder what Bard's numbers are in actual 9th inning save opportunities. I can't seem to recall him struggling that much. Regardless, Papelbon is the closer and needs to get right.

 

After looking more closely, its closer to 4 SV 1 BS in the ninth. 80% with the small sample size. Not bad at all.

[Peter Backgammons]

Who's out there that could immediately help this team? Are we looking at a potentially large trade to fix these holes? Or should we just pray that Papelbon turns it around and MDC defects to Canada?

[VA Sox Fan]

Castro on his way as Reddick optioned

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff June 25, 2010 01:40 PM

 

To shore up their pitching staff after last night's slugfest, the Sox have recalled lefty Fabio Castro from Triple-A Pawtucket and optioned OF Josh Reddick back to the minors.

 

This from the release:

 

Castro, 25, will be in his second stint with the Red Sox this season, also April 27-28, but has not appeared in a game with the club. He has made 17 appearances (five starts) for the PawSox this year, going 3-5 with a 6.65 ERA (32 ER/43.1 IP), 36 strikeouts and 22 walks. The left-hander is 3-2 with a 4.26 ERA (12 ER/25.1 IP) in his 12 relief appearances and is 1-1 with a 3.46 mark (5 ER/13.0 IP) in his last eight outings, all out of the bullpen. Castro is in his first season in the Red Sox organization after signing as a free agent in December. In 30 career Major League games (one start) over parts of two seasons with Texas (2006) and Philadelphia (2006-07), he is 0-1 with one save and a 3.30 ERA (16 ER/43.2 IP).

 

The 23-year-old Reddick was recalled on Tuesday (June 22) for his third stint with the Red Sox and started each of the last three games in right field, going 1-for-8 (.125) with a walk. In 11 games overall with Boston in 2010, he is 4-for-25 (.160) with a double, triple, two RBI, two runs and a walk. He has also appeared in 57 games with the PawSox this season, hitting .218 (47-for-216) with six home runs and 27 RBI.

[yeszir]

"He has made 17 appearances (five starts) for the PawSox this year, going 3-5 with a 6.65 ERA (32 ER/43.1 IP), 36 strikeouts and 22 walks"

 

Our savior!!

[Station 13]

Sounds like he fit right in with the delcarmen, Ramirez, Okajima, Papelbon.

[Palodios]

Normally I don't get agitated about little things. But everyone who is down on MDC needs to get a f***ing clue. Besides Bard, he's the best bullpen guy on the team right now.

[Youk Of The Nation]

The bullpen was fantastic today.

[Beaneater]

The bullpen was even better today. Sat around chewing sunflower seeds while Lester chewed up the Giants. That's my kind of bullpen action!

[SoxSport]

Too much bullpen, not enough bench. Those pitch counts keep shrinking.

[SCM33]

So when does Oki get DFA? He has been brutal just about all year. Nearing the end of the rope here.

[example1]

So when does Oki get DFA? He has been brutal just about all year. Nearing the end of the rope here.

 

This is a good question.

 

I think they will stick with him because they have seen what he can do.

 

According to Fangraphs, Okajima hasn't lost noticable velocity on any of his pitches, and he throws roughly the same % of each pitch as in previous seasons. He doesn't seem injured. Just hittable. Good pitchers become hittable sometimes. He was 3.39 with a 1.26 WHIP last year. Those numbers are decent. 2007 and 2008 were excellent. If he rebounds he will be a useful arm in some questionable company and will be valuable to the club.

 

They definitely can't afford to have him pitching in anything late or important right now, so they should acquire another potential #3 bullpen arm and move Oki down the line.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=7763&position=P#pitchtype

[Dojji]

This is the longest Oki's struggled without putting up a signfiicant run of bounceback innings, but he has recovered from a poor start to the year before. Patience is still the order of the day.

 

Besides, our ability to replace him with a quality lefty is highly suspect, unless you want to try crowding Felix Doubront onto the roster.

[redsoxrules]

I also find that Oki has been a bit unlucky ( or maybe its just me ) , it seems everytime they make contact on him it falls in play

[Palodios]

I also find that Oki has been a bit unlucky ( or maybe its just me ) ' date=' it seems everytime they make contact on him it falls in play[/quote']

 

I generally avoid advanced statistics by rule, but I was curious. His BABIP is around .400

[Palodios]

Now that Delcarmen has fallen apart completely, this bullpen needs help. Period.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

This bullpen needs major improvement. Enough said...

[VA Sox Fan]

Delcarmen headed to disabled list

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff July 1, 2010 04:15 PM

 

Via a Major League source, the Globe's Nick Cafardo is reporting that Red Sox righthander Manny Delcarmen will be placed on the disabled list with a right forearm strain.

 

No word yet on who the team will be calling up for tomorrow night's game against Baltimore. The two likely candidates are RHP Robert Manuel and RHP Fernando Cabrera.

 

Delcarmen has faced 14 batters in his last three appearances and gotten three of them out, giving up nine hits in the process.