@SoxNotes
Most strikeouts as a reliever, Red Sox history:
1. Dick Radatz – 629
2. Matt Barnes – 517
3. Bob Stanley – 516
Not sure Barnes will catch up to the Monster at this point.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/ryan-brasier-518489?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb
How he is actually pitching right now is what is important and it's been terrible. Bottom 1% in xSLG, EV, Hard Hit%. He's getting rocked. Move on.
Diekman is struggling because he's a bad pitcher, not because of the guys around him. He fails against the bottom of the order.
They have no trust in Valdez and Sawamura and don't use them in pressure situations.
Danish isn't an MLBer.
Brasier should be DFA'd.
Crawford should be in WOO.
Barnes is lost.
It's a bad pen.
Hill, Paxton and Wacha are relievers?
I think simply signing Diekman and Strahm doesn't really show him putting an emphasis on improving the pen at all.
https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1518982380165468160
Sox have used Diekman and Robles the most as their highest leverage closers. For some unknown reason, they keep putting Brasier in that position too.
Diekman's way too early 6.28 FIP portends for some correction though.
Half.
15th in fWAR, 12th in FIP, 23rd in LOB%, 26th in GB%.
Average of those 4 is 19. 15/16 is midpoint.
It's still early, but they seem like an "average" pen to me. I wouldn't say above average though. Not yet anyway.
Someone you'd ignore when they were signed. I don't think anyone expected much out of him that offseason. Him working with Whitlock more than made up for his salary though.