The Red Sox Bullpen: Strength Or Weakness?

            At the midpoint of the 2008 season, it looked like the Red Sox bullpen would be their downfall. Three months later, what was once a weakness now appears to be a strength. And unlike last season, there do not appear to be any weak links when it comes to the crucial bullpen members (anybody remember Julian Tavarez?).

            In July, Javier Lopez was pitching well but it seemed to be more of a fluke than anything else; nobody expected him to keep it up over the course of an entire season. The Red Sox other lefty, Hideki Okajima, was allowing every runner he inherited to score while appearing to lose his devastating splitter, and Manny Delcarmen continued to frustrate Sox fans with his inconsistency. The only thing that you could count on in the bullpen was Jonathan Papelbon nailing down the save.

Fast forward to September and Lopez is still a pleasant surprise with his 2.47 ERA, Delcarmen has seemingly harnessed his inconsistency issues (1 ER allowed in his last 19.2 IP) and Okajima has returned to his 2007 self at just the right time. Oh yeah, and Papelbon is still Papelbon en route to his third straight sub-2.00 ERA, 35+ save season. But perhaps most important to the Boston bullpen’s success is the emergence of Justin Masterson, a lanky righthander with a devastating sinker and slider. The fact that the bright lights and pressure of Fenway park don’t seem to faze Masteron is an added bonus as one can only predict how he will react during postseason play.

But it’s not like the Red Sox bullpen is a sure thing: Javier Lopez could fall back to earth at any minute and begin sidewinding 86 mph batting practice fastballs over the plate. Hideki Okajima could just as quickly lose his splitter as he has regained it and Manny Delcarmen could go back to nibbling with his 97 mph fastball and walking the ballpark. Facing off against a loaded Angels pitching rotation in the ALDS, the Red Sox can expect to be involved in some close games and will need their bullpen to hold a slim lead or put up some zeroes while they try and chip away. They will only go as far as their bullpen takes them.

As far as Papelbon goes, I don’t think anybody has to worry about him not bringing his A-game when it comes to October baseball. And if the Red Sox bullpen pitches effectively, you could expect to see him river dancing his way all the way to another World Series ring.