The Red Sox Bullpen discussion thread

[StephenCurry30]

I wanted to start a thread discussing solely the bullpen, which I think has been severely underrated this year. If you think about rocky the rotation has been aside from Porcello and Wright, they have been outstanding. They've consistently had to go 4 innings AT LEAST every start, and besides a rocky start from Kimbrell and the very ineffective Noe Ramirez who isn't even on the MLB team this year, most the guys have been good

 

Robbie Ross - 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP

Matt Barnes - 3.44 ERA, 1.48 WHIP

Koji Uehara - 2.93 ERA, 0.85 ERA

Craig Kimbrell - 2.65 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 10 Saves

Tommy Layne - 1.93 ERA, 1.39 WHP

Heath Hembree - 1.76 ERA, 1.37 WHIP

Junichi Tazawa - 1.72 ERA, 0.83 WHIP

Carson Smith - 0.00 ERA, 1.13 WHIP (Only 3 appearances**)

 

This Bullpen aside from a few guys who made like 1 appearance and sucked, like Light, Elias, Cuevas and so-on has been pretty dominant. I know a lot of these guys aren't liked very much, such as Barnes and Ross, but they have done a very good job and hasn't been talked about too much. Not to mention Carson Smith just got healthy, making this bullpen even more deadly.

[StephenCurry30]

Sean O'Sullivan was just designated for assignment.

[royf19]

I agree. Some fans expect the bullpen to never give up runs, so when a receiver does, all of a sudden the bullpen sucks or the reliever sucks. It hasn't been perfect and there have been some letdowns, but that's going to happen. I think the pen has been good overall.

[mvp 78]

I like Ross and Layne. They were two of the better guys last year.

[harmony]

The latest on Carson Smith:

 

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/05/17/carson-smith-still-managing-elbow-injury-which-has-limited-ability-to-recover-between-outings/

[southpaw777]

I like the look of the bp this year. DD did what Ben should have.shore up the entire pitching staff. Now we need one more starter and Smith to return and were looking pretty solid for a playoff run.

[Palodios]

I like the look of the bp this year. DD did what Ben should have.shore up the entire pitching staff. Now we need one more starter and Smith to return and were looking pretty solid for a playoff run.

 

Just curious. Who has DD acquired that has significantly improved this pitching staff? Smith seems damaged, Price has been ineffective and Kimbrel has already blown a few leads/ties.

[a700hitter]

Just curious. Who has DD acquired that has significantly improved this pitching staff? Smith seems damaged, Price has been ineffective and Kimbrel has already blown a few leads/ties.

Those are some pretty significant acquisitions. If you dropped them all off the roster as of today, don't you think this team's prospects would take a major hit?

[Palodios]

Those are some pretty significant acquisitions. If you dropped them all off the roster as of today, don't you think this team's prospects would take a major hit?

 

Yeah, but it seems to silly to praise DD for extremely expensive acquisitions that have been pretty mediocre so far.

[Bellhorn04]

Kimbrel had a couple of rough outings early, but he seems fine now. A .82 WHIP is pretty good.

[southpaw777]

Just curious. Who has DD acquired that has significantly improved this pitching staff? Smith seems damaged, Price has been ineffective and Kimbrel has already blown a few leads/ties.

 

Kimbrel has saved koji and taz' arms. Both of who experienced fatigue from overuse the last couple years. Hes also looked pretty damn good ( sub 1 WHIP) after being a little shaky at the start of the year. Hardly "mediocre" IMHO. Obviously smith hasnt done anything yet, but at least DD made the moves that were needed...no?

[greenwell]

Just saw this on espn.com

"Smith is battling lingering forearm soreness and he could require another stint on the disabled list if his condition does not improve, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports. (57 minutes ago)"

[a700hitter]

Yeah, but it seems to silly to praise DD for extremely expensive acquisitions that have been pretty mediocre so far.

That's what they cost, because they are so good. Cherries spent a lot of money on garbage. Take Panda's and Castillo's $168 million and that was more than enough to retain Lester.

[Bellhorn04]

That's what they cost, because they are so good. Cherries spent a lot of money on garbage. Take Panda's and Castillo's $168 million and that was more than enough to retain Lester.

 

It might even have been enough to retain Lester and Lackey.

[southpaw777]

Ben got us all reclimation projects of the trash heap for closers and the one not expected to do that good was koji. Turns out he was the best one. Bailey and hanrahan were major busts. Melancon started to do well his last two months here and then was shipped out , only to have good success elsewhere. At least DD went out and paid 13m per for a 27yo stud to close games. Not sure how you cant give him a little praise there.

[StephenCurry30]

Carson Smith sounds like he could have a somewhat serious, if not very serious injury, which isn't good. Along with that news, Uehara appears to be showing his age some, not that this means he wont be effective, but thankfully the pen is so deep that even if the worst happens regarding those two, we should be Okay.

[southpaw777]

I Think Smith has TJS...just a guess of course...He is still controlled for another 4-5 years, so although not good news, he doesnt cost more than the minimum. We can always find BO arms. As long as we have a solid closer, which we do, we can build around that.

[Palodios]

Ben got us all reclimation projects of the trash heap for closers and the one not expected to do that good was koji. Turns out he was the best one. Bailey and hanrahan were major busts. Melancon started to do well his last two months here and then was shipped out , only to have good success elsewhere. At least DD went out and paid 13m per for a 27yo stud to close games. Not sure how you cant give him a little praise there.

 

DD spent a quarter billion on Price, and the rotation is still in shambles. DD then traded away the most consistent starter on the team for a guy who has pitched 3 innings this year and is looking at surgery. He then traded a haul big enough to pull in a #2/3 starter for Kimbrel.

 

The best players on this team are still Theo's guys. Dave's acquisitions have added maybe 1 or 2 wins to this team.

[FredLynn]

Yeah, but it seems to silly to praise DD for extremely expensive acquisitions that have been pretty mediocre so far.

 

We needed an ace; Dombrowski got us one. Price will be fine. We needed someone to replace Koji as closer; DD got us that too. Do you really have any doubt that both Price and Kimbrel will perform this year? They are the least of our problems. The success of this team depends on three guys: Buchholz, Kelly, and Eduardo Rodriguez. If our starting pitchers do well, the whole team will follow suit.

[FredLynn]

Carson Smith sounds like he could have a somewhat serious, if not very serious injury, which isn't good. Along with that news, Uehara appears to be showing his age some, not that this means he wont be effective, but thankfully the pen is so deep that even if the worst happens regarding those two, we should be Okay.

 

Smith has hardly pitched at all this year, yet as of this morning our pen is fifth in ERA in the league-top third. Thats good enough to win. Its up to the lower tier SP to start to do their jobs-and if they can't, its up to Dombrowski to get someone who can.

[Kimmi]

We needed an ace; Dombrowski got us one. Price will be fine. We needed someone to replace Koji as closer; DD got us that too. Do you really have any doubt that both Price and Kimbrel will perform this year? They are the least of our problems. The success of this team depends on three guys: Buchholz, Kelly, and Eduardo Rodriguez. If our starting pitchers do well, the whole team will follow suit.

 

Dombrowski got us two key and much needed pieces, no doubt about that. However, both Theo and Ben had a larger hand in building this team than Dombrowski had. Dombrowski is reaping the benefits sowed by his predecessors.

[Kimmi]

Smith has hardly pitched at all this year, yet as of this morning our pen is fifth in ERA in the league-top third. Thats good enough to win. Its up to the lower tier SP to start to do their jobs-and if they can't, its up to Dombrowski to get someone who can.

 

It's too bad Smith has been injured. I really, really liked that trade for the Sox.

[a700hitter]

He then traded a haul big enough to pull in a #2/3 starter for Kimbrel.

 

Maybe at the Trading Deadline for a guy in the last year of his contract.

[a700hitter]

Dombrowski got us two key and much needed pieces, no doubt about that. However, both Theo and Ben had a larger hand in building this team than Dombrowski had. Dombrowski is reaping the benefits sowed by his predecessors.

You need to move on. I suggest that you look into auditing Ben's course at Columbia.

[FredLynn]

Dombrowski got us two key and much needed pieces, no doubt about that. However, both Theo and Ben had a larger hand in building this team than Dombrowski had. Dombrowski is reaping the benefits sowed by his predecessors.

 

Dombrowski has been here what-six months? Of course this team is mostly assembled from players Theo and Cherington acquired; they were here much longer. Don't forget however that the 2014 and 2015 last place teams were also put together by Theo and Cherington. Dombrowski is off to as good a start as anyone could have expected. No one hits it out of the park every time, but getting Price, Kimbrel, and Smith signed were all very good moves. Hopefully he has more up his sleeve as its looking like we need more starting pitching.

[Palodios]

Maybe at the Trading Deadline for a guy in the last year of his contract.

 

It was roughly around the same value given up for Cole Hamels last year. Maybe they would need to add another chip in there, but it was close.

[User Name]

It was roughly around the same value given up for Cole Hamels last year. Maybe they would need to add another chip in there, but it was close.

 

Hamels is owed big money into his mid-30's, and it wasn't nearly the same value. While the Phillies took on Harrison to balance the money (and to see if there was anything left there, that's clearly a no) they received five prospects including a top-50 guy.

[Palodios]

Matt Harrison hasn't pitched in several years-- I was under the impression he was a way for the Phillies to eat some of Hamels contract while saving face.

 

Both trades involved a top 50 prospect and a top 100 prospect. The Rangers gave up the 99th prospect too, but Allen and Asuaje are both real prospects.

 

Maybe it would have taken another piece but the value isn't that far off.

[Emp9]

The worst thing Ben did was not go after A. Miller hard that off-season after trading him for ERod. Hated losing him to the Yanks ... In essence. Other than that ... Well and the Sandoval signing... Ben was great for us. This team is still 85% Ben btw. You can credit some to Theo and some to DD as well, but Ben Cherington still deserves much of the credit more so on the things he didn't do then the things he could've done.

[mvp 78]

Theo: Pedey, Papi, Bogaerts, Vazquez, Buchholz, Jackie Bradley Jr, Mookie Betts, Travis Shaw... That's 30% of the roster right there and more than that for just production...