The Boston Bullpen: A Preview of the Best Relief Crew in the League

On Oct. 19th, 2008, the Boston Red Sox were knocked out of the playoffs by their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Here we are now, more than 9.1 million seconds after the ALCS ended in St. Petersburg. The Red Sox will shortly travel not far from where their last season ended: Fort Myers, Florida.

That’s right, Spring Training is right around the corner, which means the off-season has pretty much come to an end.

The Red Sox came into the off-season after a great '08 season, however, unlike 2007, not a championship-winning season. Part of the reason was the bullpen, which needed to be addressed in the off-season.

The 2007 Red Sox bullpen had a 3.10 ERA, the second best in the MLB.

In 2008, however, the Red Sox bullpen had a 4.00 ERA, 11th in the league.

Red Sox relievers had a league-leading 1.21 WHIP in ‘07, and a 12th-ranked 1.35 WHIP in ‘08. After allowing opposing batters a .226 BA and .306 OBP in 2007, both league-leading, the ‘08 bullpen allowed a .247 BA and a .325 OBP, good for ninth and 11th in the MLB, respectively.

From 2007-2008, the Red Sox bullpen also moved up seven ranks in walks allowed, giving 29 more free trips to first base in 2008 than in ‘07. The bullpen moved up 13 ranks in blown saves, blowing 22 and doubling their 2007 blown save total of 11.

The bullpen was absolutely lights out in 2007, and the Red Sox ended up winning it all. If it had been as good in 2008, there isn’t much doubt that the Red Sox would have won the division, but instead fell to the Tampa Bay Rays, who had a much better bullpen in comparison.

The Sox met these same Rays in the playoffs, and were out-matched in not only relief pitching but also starting pitching, and therefore fell to Tampa Bay yet again. So obviously, Boston needed to make some off-season adjustments to a bullpen that was not bad in 2008, but was simply not good enough.

In the offseason, the Red Sox clearly saw that the bullpen had failed them, and they reacted accordingly.

The Sox traded Coco Crisp, who they do not really need when they have two good center fielders in Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Kotsay, for Ramon Ramirez.

They acquired Wes Littleton from Texas for future considerations.

The Sox also signed veteran Takashi Saito, one of their biggest pickups of the offseason.

So, now that the offseason is coming to an end, the Red Sox have their new and improved bullpen for 2009. Here is a preview of this bullpen that has very high expectations.

Jonathon Papelbon

Papelbon has been the heart and soul of this Boston bullpen since he became the full-time closer in his rookie season in 2006, a year in which he had 35 saves, 75 strikeouts, and just a 0.92 ERA.

In 2007, Papelbon had 37 saves, 84 K, and a 1.84 ERA.

Last season, Papelbon followed this with his first 40-save season, closing out 41 games, with 77 K and a 2.34 ERA.

"Paps" has a career record of 113 saves in 128 opportunities, a 1.84 career ERA, and 270 strikeouts. The 28-year-old right-hander has an incredibly bright future ahead of him, and already has achieved several accomplishments in baseball.

He became the youngest rookie ever to get 10 saves in the month of April as well as getting the most saves in a season for a rookie. Papelbon has been elected to three All-Star games in as many years, and has already won a World Series in which he pitched the final out. Papelbon has started his postseason career with 25 scoreless innings, an MLB record.

Known for his heated fastball, deceptive sinker, and intimidating glare, Papelbon is one of the best closers in the game, and should have yet another fantastic year with Boston.

Justin Masterson

Because of the depth added into the rotation by the Red Sox during the offseason, it seems inevitable that the young Justin Masterson, who was both a starter and a reliever in '08, will be used in the bullpen in 2009.

At the moment, he is listed on the depth chart as Papelbon’s set-up man, a role he served for part of 2008, including the post-season.

In nine regular season starts, Masterson went 4-3 with 39 K and a 3.67 ERA. After spending time in the minor leagues to become a reliever, Masterson came back to make 27 regular appearances in the bullpen, going 2-2 with 29 K and a 2.36 ERA as a reliever.

He was dominant in the playoffs, too.

In nine postseason appearances and a total of 9.2 innings, Masterson allowed only two earned runs. He was 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA and nine K in the playoffs, averaging almost one strikeout every inning.

Masterson commands four pitches, including a nasty sinker and slider, and can be one of the better pitchers in the league when he gets hot.

Hideki Okajima

In 2007, the routine was pretty simple.

8th inning, Okajima comes in and finishes off the side; 9th inning, Papelbon comes in and ballgame over.

The duo was unstoppable that year, but the 2008 Okajima was not quite a reincarnation of his 2007 self. His ERA jumped up from 2.22 to 2.61 from '07-'08, and he blew eight saves in nine opportunities in 2008, while he was 5-for-7 making saves the previous year. The southpaw was a big disappointment, and as a result lost his set-up role to Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson.

Oki did come through in the playoffs, especially in the ALCS. Okajima pitched 7.1 innings against the Rays in that series, and did not allow any runs. In fact, he only allowed one hit and one walk.

While it was his regular season chokes that played a big part in costing the Red Sox the division, he was one of the few major bright spots in October.

Armed with his head-jerking pitch delivery, as well as his near un-hittable “Okie-Dokie” pitch, a combination of a change-up and a screwball, Okajima will go into his third season in Boston trying to bounce back and bring to the bullpen what he brought in ‘07.

Takashi Saito

Saito came from Japan to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006, and he was their closer from ‘06 until last year, where he missed most of the season thanks to an injury he suffered in mid-July.

In 2006, he converted 24 of 26 saves, also striking out 107 with an ERA of 2.07. In 2007, which may have been his best season ever, Saito converted 39 saves in 43 chances, with 78 K and just a 1.40 ERA. Last year, though he obviously didn’t play the whole season, Saito converted 18 saves in 22 tries, with 60 K and a 2.49 ERA. He did play in the postseason of 2008, but made only one appearance, allowing two earned runs without retiring a batter.

He was not re-signed by L.A., most likely because of his injury that may have led to postseason failure last year as well as his age.

Saito may be heading into his fourth season in the Major Leagues, but he turns 39 this month. He appears to have recovered from the injury he suffered last year, however, and will join some of his old rivals from Japan on the Red Sox.

Saito owns a very elusive slider, as well as a well-located fastball, and a combination a curveball and a change-up that should all help him come into Red Sox Nation with a bang.

Manny Delcarmen

A Boston native and childhood Red Sox fan, Delcarmen has had a decent first few seasons with his hometown team.

In 2006, his rookie season, he got off to a bit of a shaky start, having a 5.06 ERA in 50 appearances with 45 K, as well as being 0-for-4 in save opportunities. However, he had a better 2007 season, lowering his ERA to 2.05 in 44 games. In 2008, Delcarmen was used much more frequently, appearing in 73 games. He was 2-for-5 in save opportunities in ‘08, with 72 K and a 3.27 ERA.

Delcarmen, however, did not exactly redefine clutch in the postseason.

In the 2007 playoffs, he had an 8.31 ERA, and had an even worse 14.54 ERA last October. He allowed seven earned runs in only two innings in the '08 ALCS.

With any luck, Delcarmen will stop taking pitching lessons from A-Rod, and have a good 2009 season, helped by his high-90’s fastball and a very mobile curveball that he often uses to run up the count early on big swingers such as Vladimir Guerrero.

Javier Lopez

A native of Puerto Rico, the 31-year-old Lopez is one of only two left-handers in the Sox bullpen, and Terry Francona loves to match him up with left-handed batters.

The Red Sox acquired Lopez in 2006 from the White Sox, and since then he has been a very helpful hand in the bullpen. He made 27 appearances in his debut season with Boston, going 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA.

The next two seasons, he was used more frequently with the Sox. In 2007, Lopez struck out 26 batters and maintained a 2-1 record as well as a  3.10 ERA in 61 games. Last season, Lopez appeared in 70 games. He had 38 K, a 2-0 record, and a 2.43 ERA.

He also improved last October since the October prior; in the 2007 postseason, Lopez had a dreadful ERA of 15.43, but managed a 3.38 ERA in the ‘08 playoffs. He allowed one earned run last October, but none to the Rays, as he pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings against Tampa Bay in the series.

Lopez certainly can’t expect to be used as much as he was in 2007 and 2008 with the depth added to the bullpen, but he and his lefty-fooling side-arm slider will definitely be a help to the Red Sox in 2009.

Ramon Ramirez

The Red Sox acquired Ramirez, a Dominican, from the Royals for Coco Crisp early in the offseason.

Before he was traded to Kansas City, he played for Colorado in 2006 and 2007, where he struggled and was later sent to Kansas City for future considerations.

Ramirez had a good season with the Royals in 2008. In 71 appearances, he went 3-2 with 70 K and a 2.64 ERA, much improved compared to his 2007 ERA of 8.31.

Ramirez is a good young pitcher, and may turn out to have a great future in the Red Sox organization. The 27-year-old righty power pitcher can hit the high 90’s, with a tough change-up in the high 80’s.

Wes Littleton

The Sox got Littleton from Texas in November for a player to be named later. Littleton is a young pitcher with good talent, but has struggled lately.

He played for Texas from 2006-2008. In 2006, his ERA was a very good 1.73 in 33 games. However, it rose to 4.31 in 2007 in 35 appearances, and last year Littleton had an ERA of 6.00, but he only made 12 appearances on the season.

The right-hander is going to be 27 in September, and he definitely has potential. Although he is a right-hander, he delivers side-armed pitches, similar to teammate Javier Lopez. He can reach the 90’s with his slider, and when his control is good, he can dominate.

This 2009 Red Sox bullpen is much better than the previous year’s, and may be better than the 2007 bullpen that was most likely best in baseball at the time.

This is a very strong pen that you can trust with your life, meaning starters will not have to go as long in games, and will not get worn out as a result. If a starter has a really bad outing where they can only go three or four innings, this bullpen should be able to finish the game as well as keep the Red Sox in it.

The Boston Red Sox have done a great job addressing one of their biggest problems, and because of this, should be the favorites to win it all for the third time this decade.