With spring training just a couple weeks away, the majority of the focus is on the players, as it should be. It’s on David Price and Craig Kimbrel, wondering how these superstars will adjust to life in Boston. It’s on Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, wondering if they can adjust to Boston a little better than they did last season. It’s on Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts, wondering if they can keep up the pace they played at in 2015. This is after an entire winter focused on new front office head Dave Dombrowski, as it should have been. Nobody knew what to expect from a regime that has acted as almost a polar opposite of Ben Cherington.
Now that actual game action is right around the corner, it’s time to focus on John Farrell. In-game management can be tough to talk about, as it’s so often overrated, while the job of keeping the peace in the clubhouse is underrated. With that being said, there are still important tasks for every manager to tend to on the field every year. Here are a few for Farrell in 2016.
Properly Using His Bullpen
If there’s one aspect of managing that has consistently brought about criticism of Farrell, it’s bullpen management. This season, he doesn’t have the excuses he’s had in the past, as the additions of Kimbrel and Carson Smith have given him one of the deeper units in the league. After overusing Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa (especially Tazawa) in years past, Farrell has enough pieces to avoid a similar situation. There’s no reason for any of them to be right at the top of the appearances leaderboard, as there are not many situations in which all four of them should be used in the same game. On top of the frequency of usage, the way he uses them will also be interesting to see. In particular, I’m fascinated by Smith. In an ideal world, Farrell won’t be afraid to use the ground-ball-heavy right-hander early in games. There will be times when a starting pitcher will very clearly not have “it” on a given night, and find himself with runners on base and less than two outs in the fifth inning. Farrell needs to go to Smith, who gives him the best chance of inducing an inning-ending ground ball or a strikeout, knowing he has three other great arms still available later in the game. There are a lot of options for Farrell in the bullpen, and using them correctly will be one of his biggest tasks of the season.
Deciding on the Length of Joe Kelly’s Leash
Just like the bullpen, the rotation should be much improved from last season. Unlike the bullpen, this is largely due to a single addition in David Price. Behind him, the rotation is still a bit shaky. In particular, Kelly in the fifth spot has the potential to look very bad. Now, to be fair, there’s the potential in there for him to be a solid back-end starter. Unfortunately, just about every experience he’s had as a starter has gone poorly. There’s a decent chance Farrell will need to decide how much time is long enough before he makes a change, avoiding another Justin Masterson situation this year. Luckily for Farrell, there is much better rotation depth in the organization to start this season, with Henry Owens and Brian Johnson both ready to play in the majors right away and Roenis Elias added to the fold. Farrell can’t be shy with that improved depth, as having a black hole in one rotation spot can be devastating in an American League that is expected to be as close as it is.
Use Chris Young Correctly
Although Kimbrel, Smith and Price were the biggest additions of the offseason, Young can have quite the impact in his own way. Although he won’t be playing in the outfield every day, he will play almost every game in which a left-handed pitcher starts opposite the Red Sox. Or, at least he should. If Farrell can keep Young away from right-handed pitching next season, the offense will be a lot better for it. Last season, Young was a superstar against southpaws with a .339 TAv, while he was beyond below-average against righties with a .207 TAv. This can also be used to Farrell’s advantage at the end of games, as there are few more potent weapons to have on a bench that someone who can hit lefties like Young can. This is especially true in a division that boasts Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Zach Britton and Brett Cecil.
Keeping the Position Players Healthy
Although there is a lot of exciting young talent on the Red Sox roster, there are a few veterans that are key to Boston’s success as well. In particular, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez need to be consistent forces in the lineup if this team is going to threaten for a playoff spot this year. Pedroia is probably the toughest and most important player here. His playing style, in which he never takes it a little bit easier, is conducive to nagging injuries that can keep a player out for weeks at a time. To combat that, Farrell needs to schedule more off-days for Pedroia than is typical for a player of his caliber. That’s a lot easier said than done with the personality of the Red Sox second baseman, but having him every day down the stretch could be the difference between making and missing the playoffs. With Brock Holt, Deven Marrero and Marco Hernandez serving as depth, there shouldn’t be an excuse to avoid days off for Pedroia.
Meanwhile, Ortiz and Ramirez are also getting older and the latter has been known to miss time to injury. The depth behind them isn’t quite as impressive, but Travis Shaw still exists and needs a spot to play. Spelling both Ortiz and Ramirez should give him plenty of plate appearances for a bench piece and will keep the big bats available for the whole season.
John Farrell has been maligned in his last couple of seasons with the Red Sox, and the team actually played better after he took time off due to his health issues. Looking ahead to 2016, he has a chance to rebuild the perception around him. With more depth than he’s had in year’s past, there’s no excuse for him to make the simple mistakes that can make the difference between a playoff berth and another selling spree at the trade deadline.
Photo by Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports Images