Red Sox Papelbon Continues Bullpen's Excellence

Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon didn't make life easy for himself, but recovered to overwhelm the Tampa Bay Rays, continuing the bullpen's dominance for the Boston Red Sox." title="It wasn't easy, but Papelbon recovered to overwhelm the Rays" width="350" height="442" />

Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon didn't make life easy for himself, but recovered to overwhelm the Tampa Bay Rays, continuing the bullpen's dominance for the Boston Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was in trouble. He threw four straight 95-miles per hour fastballs out of the strike-zone to walk the first batter of the ninth inning,

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura while on first, Papelbon tried to keep him close, threw array in a pick-off attempt. Iwamura scurried to second base, and was moved to third when Jason Bartlett lined another fastball to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

Papelbon, still content on throwing nothing but fastballs, fell behind power-hitting pinch-hitter Carlos Peña 3-1 and in danger of loading the bases.

He regrouped, and overwhelmed Peña, firing two high fastballs past his helpless bat. He struck him out, but Bartlett stole second base on the pitch, breaking up any chance of a double-play off the bat of the next batter, B.J. Upton.

Papelbon received the next best thing out of Upton, disposing off the struggling center-fielder via another strikeout and only needing just four pitches to do so.

Upton, still trying to recover from a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the beginning of the regular season, saw his average plummet even farther. It now sits at an abysmal .167.

Because of Upton's nightmarish start, the Rays top of the order is weakened, despite the fantastic play of second-place hitter Carl Crawford. Crawford boasts a .333 batting average and 22 consecutive stolen bases to begin his campaign.

Papelbon, pumped up after striking out two straight, was in a zone, and wouldn’t give Crawford the chance to increase both statistics. He overthrew the first pitch, which was clocked at 97-miles per hour, high and outside for ball-one.

The next pitch was also high, but close enough to the strike-zone to tempt his antsy opponent. Crawford swung violently, but couldn’t catch up.

The third pitch was a bit too high, so Crawford managed to lay off.

The fourth offering was similarly as enticing as the first strike, and Crawford replicated that swing, now at a disadvantage.

Throughout his promising career, Papelbon has relied predominately on his lively fastball. It has worked, considering his intimidating demeanor, and aggressive location.

He does have a curveball and a slider, but rarely uses such pitches, even in situations calls for their usage. With the count in his favor, he chose to stick with what baffled Crawford–the high, too-close-to-the-strike-zone fastball.

Crawford, needing to protect the plate down to his last strike, had no choice but to swing. Fortunately for Papelbon, he whiffed miserably, unable to foul off the adrenaline-filled final pitch.

Though it wasn’t pretty, Papelbon’s gritty performance was just another example of the bullpen’s effectiveness.

Hideki Okajima, the deceptive left-hander has returned to form after some poor outings during the seasons first month. He was unhittable in this game, as he has been over the past few weeks. He tossed 1 2/3 innings of perfect ball, striking out two to keep the 3-all tie intact. If he continues to pitch effectively, life will be made much easier for primary set-up man Ramon Ramirez and Papelbon.

Ramirez, acquired this past offseason from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for the much beloved Coco Crisp, has been brilliant as one of the more important relievers in their bullpen.

The 28-year-old right-hander came in to face one hitter, Ben Zobrist, and retired him to end the eighth inning. The groundout induced lowered his Earned Run Average to .55.

He has allowed just one run in 16 1/3 innings pitched.

Boston’s bullpen is now so deep that they can afford to send down Javier Lopez. The side armed left-hander had multiple rough outings resulting in a demotion. Given his prior success with the team, the Red Sox are optimistic that he will figure out his mechanics and return to make an impact at some point during this season.

Lopez allowed 12 runs on 20 hits in his 11 1/3 innings pitched over his 14 appearances. Yet, the Red Sox hope he can return to his former self—the pitcher that relinquished only 18 runs in 59 innings that resulted in an impressive 2.43 ERA during the 2008 season.

His demotion gave Boston the opportunity to bring up a replacement reliever, the highly touted Daniel Bard. The 23-year-old right-hander stands at 6'4" in stature and can hit triple digits on his fastball. This is only beneficial if it can be located properly, as Bard does.

He has not made an appearance as of yet, but will be a factor in the Red Sox bullpen, hopefully similar to the impact that Justin Masterson made last season. He also has a sharp slider that ranges from 78-86 miles per hour, which is crucial in order to keep a hitter guessing and off balance.

At least two effective pitches are necessary in this era for a pitcher to succeed. This applies to most, especially the likes of Daniel Bard, who attempt to make their way to the major leagues, but not to Papelbon. As he showed by striking out three straight to end the ninth inning, a overpowering fastball can be enough to dominate.