How are we feeling about the state of the Red Sox bullpen right now?

[Larry Cook]

If the closer by committee can keep it together by July, maybe we trade for somebody????

[Cameron Tran]

On 3/18/2025 at 9:26 PM, moonslav59 said:

Great post.

IMO, our pen would be pretty damn good, if we had a lockdown closer, and every other RP'er was knocked down one role slot.

Slaten, Hendriks & Chapman would make plus set-up men, and maybe only 2 have to be good.

Whitlock pitches the 2 high leverage innings every third day. (Criswell offers nice depth for him.)

When Crawford returns, he could be a nice boost (or Fitts/Priester)

Wink, Weissert, Guerrero & Bernardino offer decent depth.

relievers are extremely volatile. We all though wink was going to be a mainstay after 2023. Same thing with Bernardino. We saw what happened to Ryan Braiser. Man I thought Sawamura was going to stick forever. any of these guys could be 3-4 ERA guys or get absolutely raked and DFA'ed by June. Odds are we won't really know the state of the bullpen until the all star break 

[moonslav59]

37 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

relievers are extremely volatile. We all though wink was going to be a mainstay after 2023. Same thing with Bernardino. We saw what happened to Ryan Braiser. Man I thought Sawamura was going to stick forever. any of these guys could be 3-4 ERA guys or get absolutely raked and DFA'ed by June. Odds are we won't really know the state of the bullpen until the all star break 

Most RP'ers are volatile. That tends to support the idea that having so many RP'ers with some promise is a good thing. The problem might be that we need to cycle through 10 to find the one who does well, and by then, we are 10 games behind.

[moonslav59]

I think David Robertson is still unsigned. It's too late for him to be our opening day closer, but what's up with him not being signed, yet?

I know he's olds, but so was Jansen and Martin (both 37, last year), and so are Chapman (37) and Hendriks (36). Robertson turns 40 in a few days. Last 3 year numbers: 

67 IP per season

2.82 ERA/ 1.15 WHIP

12K to 4BB ratio per 9.

.571 OPS Against in 2024, including a killer reverse  split vs LHBs at .467 (.653 v RHBs)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

57 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think David Robertson is still unsigned. It's too late for him to be our opening day closer, but what's up with him not being signed, yet?

I know he's olds, but so was Jansen and Martin (both 37, last year), and so are Chapman (37) and Hendriks (36). Robertson turns 40 in a few days. 

Chapman will make all of us a lot older this summer.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Chapman will make all of us a lot older this summer.

Jansen put us through some tough times, last year, but I'm expecting worse in '25.

We might need to have some bigger late leads in '25.

I'm expecting better D, better O and better SP'ing, so maybe we can pull this off.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

14 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Chapman will make all of us a lot older this summer.

In one inning yesterday he consistently broke triple digits on the jugs gun. Good thing everyone says stats in Spring Training are worthless.

[notin]

On 3/18/2025 at 3:01 PM, Cameron Tran said:

True but he always has. BB/9 has actually gone down in recent years but still way above average. Chapman hasen't been a closer since 2021 but Hendriks hasn't pitched in general since 2022. I think Henriks slow start means Chapman wins the closer role out the gate

Chapman closed games the end of last year after the Pirates finally decided to have Dave Bednar put to sleep…

[Bellhorn04]

21 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

In one inning yesterday he consistently broke triple digits on the jugs gun. Good thing everyone says stats in Spring Training are worthless.

There's certainly nothing wrong with his velocity. 

[notin]

By the end of 2025, the Sox bullpen will have a lights out core of Slaten, Whitlock, Fitts, and Guerrero…

[moonslav59]

35 minutes ago, notin said:

By the end of 2025, the Sox bullpen will have a lights out core of Slaten, Whitlock, Fitts, and Guerrero…

and Criswell.

[notin]

19 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I think David Robertson is still unsigned. It's too late for him to be our opening day closer, but what's up with him not being signed, yet?

I know he's olds, but so was Jansen and Martin (both 37, last year), and so are Chapman (37) and Hendriks (36). Robertson turns 40 in a few days. Last 3 year numbers: 

67 IP per season

2.82 ERA/ 1.15 WHIP

12K to 4BB ratio per 9.

.571 OPS Against in 2024, including a killer reverse  split vs LHBs at .467 (.653 v RHBs)

Robertson is over 40 years old and in his long career, has only pitched in two World Series, winning only one.  And even back then in 2009, he was watching some other random guy get saves.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Robertson wanted the opportunity to close for a legitimate title contender.  At this point, he can either retire as a very wealthy man or, more likely, wait for injuries to open up his dream job.  
 

Think Boston fits these requirements? Assuming I’m right, of course.

Boston does have one huge advantage should they approach Robertson - he and his family live in Barrington, Rhode Island…

[Larry Cook]

4 hours ago, notin said:

By the end of 2025, the Sox bullpen will have a lights out core of Slaten, Whitlock, Fitts, and Guerrero…

I thought fitts might end up in the bullpen too! When his velocity is up, he is lights out, but after 40-50 pitches, the velocity starts to drop 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Robertson is over 40 years old and in his long career, has only pitched in two World Series, winning only one.  And even back then in 2009, he was watching some other random guy get saves.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Robertson wanted the opportunity to close for a legitimate title contender.  At this point, he can either retire as a very wealthy man or, more likely, wait for injuries to open up his dream job.  
 

Think Boston fits these requirements? Assuming I’m right, of course.

Boston does have one huge advantage should they approach Robertson - he and his family live in Barrington, Rhode Island…

If he's good enough, the closing job can be his, so yes. He fits the criteria you suggested.

[Larry Cook]

Fulmer sent to Worcester today! I hope he comes back because I thought he threw the ball well 

[moonslav59]

28 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Fulmer sent to Worcester today! I hope he comes back because I thought he threw the ball well 

He has looked good, but maybe they are choosing to keep him as depth, without having to add him to the 40 (and 26,) so we can add someone else. If Fulmer keeps pitching well, he can easily replace someone else, later, of be added when we put someone on the 60 Day IL. No hurry on any of this.

[notin]

16 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Fulmer sent to Worcester today! I hope he comes back because I thought he threw the ball well 

Fulmer has no opt out.  So no urgency to add him to the 40 man.  He’ll be back at some point…

[Bellhorn04]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

Fulmer has no opt out.  So no urgency to add him to the 40 man.  He’ll be back at some point…

Probably in the month of April.

[moonslav59]

It's hard to know who will be the first RP'ers called up.  Last year, we used 27 pitchers in relief, including Reyes and Dom Smith. If we can keep that under 20, it might be a good sign. If we don't have to trade for relief help, this summer, that would be another good sign.

It looks like a sure bet that Chapman begins the season as our closer. I hope he can hold that slot, all year. Hendriks and Slaten might turn out to be decent 8th inning pitchers. Whitlock and Criswell could be very good 2 inning, high leverage arms in the pen. All these 5 guys have questions, but the rest of the pen seems wide-open. The good thing is, we have about 15 pitchers with varying levels of promise hoping to get a shot at the remaining 3 pen slots:

Wilson, Ottavino, Fulmer are the seasoned vets. (Moore & Adams are longshots)

Bernardino, Kelly and I Campbell  had some success at the big level, even if just for short stretches. (Moran might rise)

Guerrero might be the rookie break through guy.

Converted SP'ers might help (Crawford, Fitts, Priester, Dobbins)

Other longshots might be: Mata, Mills, Harris, Gambrell, Adames, YH Cruz or even Murphy or Sandlin, later in the season.

If Sandoval returns, we could push Gio or Bello to the pen.

That is a lot of names. I've never been a quantity over quality fan, but it's better to have quantity than to not have it.

[Larry Cook]

So we have Chapman, Hendricks and slaten at the backend of the bullpen! 
Bernardino and Wilson as the lefties! 
Whitlock, Criswell and weissert as the multi inning guys?  
anybody else a bit nervous about this????

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

So we have Chapman, Hendricks and slaten at the backend of the bullpen! 
Bernardino and Wilson as the lefties! 
Whitlock, Criswell and weissert as the multi inning guys?  
anybody else a bit nervous about this????

I am, but I like our AAA depth, including SP'er we can use from the pen, and when the SP'ers return, we can add Fitts, Newcomb or Priester to the pen, at that time.

I like our O.

I like our D, much better than '24.

I like our base running.

I love our rotation.

The pen may be average, so let's see how it plays out.

[Larry Cook]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I am, but I like our AAA depth, including SP'er we can use from the pen, and when the SP'ers return, we can add Fitts, Newcomb or Priester to the pen, at that time.

I like our O.

I like our D, much better than '24.

I like our base running.

I love our rotation.

The pen may be average, so let's see how it plays out.

Does fulmer have a realistic chance to come up to Boston? 

[Bellhorn04]

9 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Does fulmer have a realistic chance to come up to Boston? 

Yes and probably very soon.  They're just taking advantage of the fact they can stash him.  

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

On 3/18/2025 at 10:26 PM, moonslav59 said:

 

IMO, our pen would be pretty damn good, if we had a lockdown closer, and every other RP'er was knocked down one role slot.

 

Many teams could say the same thing.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

39 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Many teams could say the same thing.

Sox fans more than most know the impact of a lights-out closer, because the one big separator between Boston and New York for about 20 years was Mariano Rivera. 

The Red Sox have had plenty of good relievers this century, and even some All-Stars, but year-after-year consistency is so rare for any closer... and why Rivera is the only unanimous Hall of Famer.

New York's YES channel still replays late-inning postseason wins from the 1990s and 2000s. But for all their heroic position players, magic acts are a lot easier at the end of games knowing the other team can't score.

[mvp 78]

On 3/22/2025 at 10:18 AM, Bellhorn04 said:

Probably in the month of April.

No shortage of pitcher injuries in this day and age.

[drewski6]

13 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

So we have Chapman, Hendricks and slaten at the backend of the bullpen! 
Bernardino and Wilson as the lefties! 
Whitlock, Criswell and weissert as the multi inning guys?  
anybody else a bit nervous about this????

A bit nervous? Yes. Shaking in my boots? No.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yes and probably very soon.  They're just taking advantage of the fact they can stash him.  

Agreed. I think he's good enough to get the call, but others on the roster might get a chance before he does.

[Larry Cook]

Zachary Rymes of the bleacher report is floating a trade of Grissom to Cleveland for McKenzie! Says both need a change of scenery!!!

[moonslav59]

40 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Zachary Rymes of the bleacher report is floating a trade of Grissom to Cleveland for McKenzie! Says both need a change of scenery!!!

I guess we could use another AAA pitcher.