Perhaps some quick history is in order. The first trade Dave Dombrowski made after taking over the team from Ben Cherington in August of 2015 was to acquire Kimbrel to anchor the bullpen. And that worked. But after Kimbrel? The ’15 Red Sox bullpen was a bit of a hodgepodge. To fix that, Dombrowski dealt for Carson Smith from the Mariners. Smith was coming off a fantastic season in Seattle, and was slated to be the primary setup man in Boston in 2016. He looked great, too, for 6.2 innings before he needed Tommy John surgery. Then last year, with Smith out of action, the Red Sox needed to solve that same problem again. Dombrowski again hit the trade market (because it worked so well the first time) and got Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers. Thornburg didn’t even make it as far as Smith’s 6.2 inning before needing surgery to relieve Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. That necessitated missing the entire 2017 season. Because they were without Smith and Thornburg, the Red Sox traded for Addison Reed during the season, but he became a free agent after the season ended and signed with the Twins.

Somehow Dombrowski managed to avoid dealing for another soon-to-be-hurt reliever this past offseason, which brings us to the present day. It seems we’re back where we started, but in fact, we’re not, because Smith is now healthy and throwing spring training innings. To be precise, he has nine strikeouts, two walks, and two runs allowed in six spring innings. Thornburg threw off a mound for the first time almost three weeks ago, but I can’t find any updates beyond that. Recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome is no sure thing, far less successful on average than Tommy John surgery, which has become somewhat rote in the baseball world.

It says here the Red Sox are planning on handing over the eighth inning to Smith, but there should be some caution exercised as Smith is coming off a major injury. That’s not to say he can’t handle an eighth inning reliever’s workload. There are numerous pitchers who, once they’ve returned from Tommy John, have immediately slotted back into their previous workloads. Yu Darvish and Lance Lynn come to mind, as does reliever Greg Holland. The future may be bright for Mr. Smith when it comes to health, but pitchers returning from Tommy John often don’t have full command for up to a year post-surgery. Maybe Smith will be fine, but there is at least some question about it, and Thornburg is a complete question mark given his current health (?) and the track record of players recovering from similar procedures (what’s now left of Matt Harvey springs to mind).

Beyond Smith and Thornburg, the Red Sox have a lot of that same smorgasbord of hard throwing somewhat erratic relievers they had back in 2016 and since. Last season it worked. Boston’s bullpen ranked fourth in baseball by FanGraphs WAR. That’s not the perfect measurement to rate relievers, but the point is clear: Boston had an effective bullpen in 2017. But! Half of that WAR came from Craig Kimbrel. The rest was split between a ton of mediocre relievers. Boston had 16 relievers throw six or more innings for them last season, and 11 threw 17 or more. That’s partially just the nature of relievers nowadays, but it’s also because the team struggled to find consistency in the late innings outside of Kimbrel.

This year promises more of the same on that front, as Matt Barnes and Joe Kelly will bring their fast fastballs and extremely walky walk rates to the eighth inning party. Barnes was a frequent and often ill-timed victim of the long ball last year. while Kelly probably should’ve been victimized more than he was. Both players could improve — they are relievers after all — but barring that, there likely needs to be some sheltering from specific matchups and bad platoon splits. Doing that limits their availability, and thus their overall value to the team. Brandon Workman merits a mention as well. He’s cut from the Matt Barnes cloth, but minus the strikeouts, which isn’t ideal for a late inning reliever.

Beyond those guys, the ‘pen is mostly just guys who seldom have the stuff or command to advance past the seventh inning. The farm system offers some intriguing arms, but they’re almost universally still starters in the low minors, which is to say bullpen help won’t be coming this season.

The Red Sox are clearly going to try to sort this thing out again over the course of the season. That’s fine. It worked out pretty well the last two seasons, and really, it’s extremely difficult to build a bad bullpen when your starting point is Craig Kimbrel. But Kimbrel can’t pitch all the time. Smith returning as the same guy the Sox thought they were getting from Seattle two years ago would be the best possible scenario, since it would fill the hole in the eighth inning without asking Dombrowski to head out on the trade market where things can get a bit expensive, not to mention dangerous. If Smith can’t be Smith though, the Red Sox will be facing the one part of their roster not ready to compete for a World Series.

Photo by Kim Klement — USA TODAY Sports

Presenting the full list 2017 Roster Recaps, listed with the authors that wrote them. An asterisk denotes a player who has, as of March 13th, dearly departed the Red Sox. We’ll miss them all terribly.

Catchers

• Sandy Leon (Cam Ellis)
• Blake Swihart (Jake Devereaux)
• Christian Vazquez (Brett Cowett)

Infielders

• Xander Bogaerts (Chris Teeter)
• Chase d’Arnaud* (Matt Kory)
• Rafael Devers (Kory)
• Marco Hernandez (Cowett)
• Brock Holt (Devereaux)
• Tzu-Wei Lin (Cowett)
• Deven Marrero (Cowett)
• Mitch Moreland (Cowett)
• Eduardo Nunez (Teeter)
• Dustin Pedroia (Kory)
• Hanley Ramirez (Devereaux)
• Josh Rutledge* (Cowett)
• Pablo Sandoval* (Cowett)
• Sam Travis (Teeter)

Outfielders

• Andrew Benintendi (Ellis)
• Mookie Betts (Kory)
• Jackie Bradley Jr. (Cowett)
• Rajai Davis* (Daniel Poarch)
• Steve Selsky (Ellis)
• Chris Young* (Cowett)

Pitchers

• Fernando Abad* (Ellis)
• Matt Barnes (Cowett)
• Blaine Boyer* (Cowett)
• Roenis Elias (Poarch)
• Doug Fister* (Kory)
• Heath Hembree (Kory)
• Brian Johnson (Teeter)
• Joe Kelly (Ellis)
• Kyle Kendrick* (Poarch)
• Craig Kimbrel (Cowett)
• Austin Maddox (Ellis)
• Kyle Martin (Poarch)
• Drew Pomeranz (Ellis)
• Rick Porcello (Teeter)
• David Price (Ellis)
• Noe Ramirez* (Poarch)
• Addison Reed* (Ellis)
• Eduardo Rodriguez (Cowett)
• Robbie Ross* (Cowett)
• Chris Sale (Cowett)
• Robby Scott (Cowett)
• Carson Smith (Teeter)
• Ben Taylor (Cowett)
• Hector Velazquez (Devereaux)
• Brandon Workman (Ellis)
• Steven Wright (Kory)

Header photo by Winslow Townson — USA TODAY Sports

Over a year ago, Travis Sawchik at Fangraphs took note of a particular claim to fame Boyer had: batters couldn’t barrel him up at all. Sure, he couldn’t strike anyone out and he didn’t induce grounders, but getting weak contact? That’s intriguing. Batters can exert a ton of control over how hard they hit something, but can pitchers affect that? It’s something to look into, at the very least.

The Atlanta Braves were willing to roll the dice on it, as they signed Boyer to a minor league deal with a spring training invite a mere four days after that piece was written. He nearly made it onto their 25-man, but was cut on March 25th. Boyer was scooped up by the Red Sox in mid-April on a minor league contract, got called up at the end of May, and has stuck with the organization ever since.

What Went Right

He started striking people out. Boyer had a 9.2 percent strikeout rate in 2016 and it jumped all the way to 18.5 percent in 2017. Not many pitchers can more than double their strikeout rate like that, so that’s just a tad bit insane. One possible source of this was an improvement in velocity for his fastball, as his four- and two-seamers both saw at least a 1 MPH jump in their average velo from last year, while both his slider and curveball registered drops of at least 1 MPH. When your fastball sits in the mid-90s and your Uncle Charlie comes in below 74, you’re gonna catch some batters swinging early. Boyer was now 1) touching 95 with regularity and 2) getting more whiffs than ever before. Naturally, the contact rate dropped, and Boyer sure looked like a contributor out of the bullpen, especially when he first showed up.

What Went Wrong

He couldn’t dodge barrels like Mario anymore. Boyer registered exactly 130 balls put in play against him, and he had the 231st-best barrel rate among all pitchers with 130 or more balls put in play against. There were only 375 qualified pitchers, so Boyer wasn’t even average. So if he wasn’t getting weak contact, what was he getting, exactly? A whole lot of nope. Of all the relievers that threw at least 20 innings for the Sox, Boyer had the lowest groundball rate by far, at 34.1 percent. He didn’t have the highest fly ball rate within those qualifiers, but he did have the highest line drive rate — at 29.4 percent. For reference, Joe Kelly came in second with 23 percent. Sure makes that .370 BABIP and 5.44 DRA look justified, doesn’t it?

Left-handed batters crushed Boyer to the tune of a .919 OPS. Thankfully, he didn’t see many, but that wasn’t the only mark against him here. There wasn’t a leverage bracket here he really excelled in. His best work was during the 8.1 innings of medium leverage he had, but his strikeout rate would shrink back down to 9.7 percent in those spots, and make that .726 OPS against look really flimsy.

A couple injuries turned him into a piñata in July and August, contributing to a terrible 11-inning stretch. A right elbow strain early in July produced a .900 OPS against until he was put on the disabled list on the 16th, and a neck strain affected his entire August, causing him to miss two weeks and saddling him with horrid 1.278 OPS against in that month. There’s a lot of BABIP inflation and small sample size warnings here, but with Boyer’s batted ball profile being what it is, it doesn’t seem like it’s entirely bad luck.

What To Expect

Boyer is 36, is a reliever, and despite honest improvements in getting whiffs, his batted ball profile has taken a turn for the worse. That’s a recipe for disaster when it comes to projecting his next season. There’s some hope he can rediscover his barrel-avoiding magic that he showed in 2016, but that’s more of a pipe dream than anything. Expect very little out of Boyer in 2018, and cherish anything he does well. Wanting more than that will probably end in disappointment.

Photo by Bob DeChiara — USA TODAY Sports

In the meantime, Austin Maddox would love your attention. If you’ll recall, Maddox sort of showed up out of nowhere in September, and was good enough to beat out Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, and Heath Hembree for a spot on the ALDS roster. He apparently almost made the Opening Day roster out of camp last year, but the tail-end of Spring Training is a dystopian hellscape full of four-hour, split-squad nightmares that I try to forget. If the Red Sox made a decision on one of their 1,000 okay-ish right-handed relievers on the last day of Spring Training, I certainly missed it.

Nonetheless, the team was clearly high on Maddox heading into the 2017 season. Over 36 innings in Triple-A, Maddox posted a 3.70 FIP and was striking out over a batter an inning. While those are certainly good enough to warrant a promotion, Maddox also struggled mightily with control. He was walking 14 percent of the batters he faced, far and away the highest rate of his minor league career. Still, everyone ever drafted by the Red Sox and all the season ticket holders get a shot at making the roster for September call-ups, and Maddox took advantage of that.

In 17 innings of work for the Sox, Maddox carried a 2.64 FIP while posting a stellar strikeout-to-walk ratio that settled a shade below 18 percent. A Brian McCann dinger in a late September blowout was the only run scored against him all year, so that’s kind of impressive. He’s doesn’t really have a third pitch, but he does have a fastball that lives in the mid-to-high 90’s, so I can live with that. Predictably, an overwhelming majority (14) of his 17 innings last season were in low-leverage situations. His .150/.190/.150 slash line against righties is bursting at the seams with intrigue, but it’s hard to take any numbers seriously with such a small sample size. His fly ball percentage sitting at 60 percent is alarming, but again small sample sizes blah blah blah baseball writing is just making a point and then copping out of it.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Maddox made the ALDS roster. Just walked right in and beat out, like, three pitchers the Red Sox had been relying on all year despite only throwing a handful of innings.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Not making the roster out of Spring Training, I guess? Getting taken yard by Brian McCann probably isn’t that fun. The team he’s employed to play for got thoroughly overwhelmed in the playoffs. His cable bill probably increased.

WHAT TO EXPECT

It’s hard to know who ranks above who now that Alex Cora is making the decisions. If the team still views him as a better option than Barnes, Hembree or Workman, he’ll be a prominent member of the bullpen. He’ll be a part of the thrilling right-handed middle relief competition that goes on during Spring Training, and I, for one, cannot wait.*

*that’s untrue.

Photo by Patrick McDermott — USA TODAY Sports

If you pitch a perfect 8th inning in the clinching game of a World Series – as a rookie – you’ve officially bought my everlasting affection. Them’s the rules. I don’t really know where this is going – I just wanted to prepare you for a slightly unrealistic overview of Workman’s 2017 season.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

For starters, Workman successfully returned from Tommy John surgery after a year and a half of recovery. Tommy John isn’t quite the career roadblock that it used to be, but being able to return to throwing baseballs 90+ miles per hour after having a tendon surgically grafted onto your elbow to replace the previously torn one seems like an overall win. His first action for the Sox came in May, but after a couple disastrous appearances, was sent to Triple-A for a couple months. He reemerged in August and was excellent for a long stretch of time. In fact, he was one of the team’s best bullpen options until mid-September.

From July 15th – the day he was recalled from Pawtucket – to September 15th, he posted a 2.35 ERA over 30.2 innings of relief appearance. He was tagged for only eight earned runs over that stretch. Also worth noting: Workman stranded 92 percent of the runners he inherited during that time. During that same stretch, Addison Reed, de-facto setup man, posted a 4.07 ERA, allowing 11 runs over 24.2 innings. He also “only” stranded 80 percent of the batters he inherited. While that’s still above the 2017 league average (73 percent), as any 5th grader will tell you, 92 is better than 80.

During that two month stretch, Workman was also piling up strikeouts. He carried a 25.2 percent strikeout rate over those eight weeks, four percentage points higher than his career average. He also walked batters less, posting a 6.7 percent walk rate, down two percentage points from his career norm (8.2 percent). His velocity was back up, and was getting more swing-and-misses. He was a dominant, albeit lucky, reliever for two months. At the time, I was the conductor, and possibly only passenger, of the Workman For The Setup Role hype train, and while hindsight is 20/20, I regret nothing.

WHAT WENT WRONG

First and foremost, fatigue set in. It takes a while to build up arm strength, and after an 18-month absence from major league games, Workman burned out at the worst possible time. After two great months, his final five outings of the year were a disaster. Workman imploded, posting a 9.64 ERA over the final two weeks of the season while on his way to being left off the postseason roster. My guess is that the team made the decision to include Austin Maddox over Workman knowing that the latter didn’t have anything left in the tank. That’s not to say it’s the wrong decision, but I just can’t imagine the team ignoring the first two months of results in favor of the last two weeks as the only factor.

Like I briefly mentioned earlier, there were also signs throughout his dominant stretch that Workman was benefiting from a fair bit of luck. Workman posted a much uglier 4.10 FIP over his dominant eight weeks, and anytime ERA’s and FIP’s are that far apart, something’s not right. Workman had a home run problem all year, posting a HR/FB rate of 16.1 percent. The league average for relievers in 2017 was a touch over 12 percent, so clearly Workman struggled to keep the ball in the park. His BABIP from mid-July through mid-September was .250, which is nowhere close to his career average (.305) or league average (.295). His soft contact fell while hard contact against him skyrocketed. Essentially, he got hit harder, and farther, while benefitting significantly from luck. Even if you just look at his two-month stretch of successful results, signs of good fortune jump off the page.

WHAT TO EXPECT

This is where I’m most torn. Workman has done a lot for the Red Sox over a relatively short amount of time. He’s shown the ability to be a pitcher that’s reliable in the postseason and equally effective against both righties and lefties. With that said, the team doesn’t seem too keen on relying on him in high-leverage situations – only 16 of his 166 career innings have been spent in such scenarios. There’s also almost certainly regression coming down the pike. With that said, there’s no question that there’s a place for him in this Red Sox bullpen. Personally, I’d love to see Workman get some of Matt Barnes innings, at least early in the season. I still believe there’s a late-inning arm hidden somewhere in Workman, and if worse comes to worst and he’s just okay in that role, it’s fine, because so is Matt Barnes. Assuming Carson Smith takes over for Addison Reed, the 7th inning battle is going to be one of the more interesting Spring Training storylines.

It’s fun because it’s silly, because it’s juvenile, and because it’s utterly unnecessary. I love that they’ve spent time figuring this thing out – you do this, and you do this and I’ll do this, no wait let’s try it this way, and on and on – time which has been spent together, working as friends.

Winning baseball is fun. Any team that wins is fun. And this 2017 Red Sox team wins, so by definition they are fun. But this team is more than fun-because-they-win fun. This team is straight up roller-coaster milk-coming-out-your-nose yelling-out-the-moon-roof-of-a-moving-car fun, and the outfield dance is only one reason. Here are many, many others.

1. Anytime anyone tries to hit a ball past Dustin Pedroia.
2. Chili Davis. On one end of the cool cat scale you have former Yankees catcher Brian McCann, who probably dresses like an old timey school marm and hits puppies with sticks for fun. On the other end of the cool cat scale you have Chili Davis, who plays jazz trumpet in clubs until 4am and will chat you up long after that. Does he really play jazz trumpet in clubs after games? Who knows, but metaphorically speaking absolutely.
3. Hanley. The Red Sox drafted him and then they dealt him away. That happens. Baseball is a business. But through all that, through two other organizations and a literal decade of time, dude still felt an attachment to Boston and wanted to come back. I’ll never forget that. Also he’s a total goofball whose helmet needs to be crazy-glued to his hair. We should get a Kickstarter rolling for that.
4. Hanley’s homers. GOOD GOD Y’ALL, those things GO. When he gets a hold of one it’s a sight to see. I tell ya, A SIGHT TO SEE!
5. You know what’s fun? Stuff that is exciting! And you know what’s exciting? Any time the Red Sox get a base runner! Will he steal? Maybe! Will he be thrown out at home by 30 feet? Maybe! Exciting! Fun!
6. Andrew Benintendi’s hair.
7. Andrew Benintendi’s swing.
8. Andrew Benintendi.
9. You know how when Mookie stands in the batter’s box and glares back at the pitcher his lip does this little curl thing, kinda like Elvis Presley used to do? I love that.
10. Craig Kimbrel is striking out more than half the batters he’s faced this season. He’s at 51.8 percent right now! Exclamation point! Vomit! YELLING! Fifty-one point eight perWHAT! AHHHHHHH! That’s a lot is what I’m saying.
11. So this kid who is 20 years old was playing for Salem, Virginia in the Carolina League last season and now he’s the starting third baseman for the Red Sox and he’s always smiling like that time he smiled after he turned around a 103 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman and tied the game in ninth inning. That was a smile!
12. Joe Kelly’s velocity readings are fun!
13. Joe Kelly’s great stuff is funny because it’s not real, which is fun!
14. You know how the Yankees aren’t doing great and are always mad and they are paying Aroldis Chapman a lot of money to be awful? That’s not directly related to the Red Sox but it sure is fun anyway!
15. The standings! You should look at them sometime. They are great fun.
16. Mookie sometimes fools fielders and thieves bases from them.
17. Jackie’s defense. Have you ever seen him miss a ball? Like, ever?
18. Sandy Leon and his occasional magic. You never see it coming and then POW! Right in the kisser!
19. Brandon Workman last pitched in the majors in 2014. You know who started the most games for that team? Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, Jake Peavy, Rubby De La Rosa, and Workman. That’s a long time ago! Then Workman got hurt and rehabbed and then he got hurt again and rehabbed and his rehab didn’t take and he had to start and stop and start and stop and start and stop again. Poor guy as recently as this season was throwing 87 in the minors and getting lit up. Now he’s back in the mid-90s and looking like a worthwhile piece of a major league bullpen. That’s persistence. That’s perseverance. That’s impressive. Also, remember that time he batted in the World Series? Less fun, that.
20. Addison Reed will probably help eventually!
21. Eduardo Nunez: How bad must the Giants have been that they couldn’t win with this guy?
22. Remember that time Doug Fister looked like Chris Sale? That was fun! (We’ll ignore the time Chris Sale looked like Doug Fister.)
23. Robby Scott might not be your favorite Red Sox, but he’s one of mine. Remember Daniel Nava? Scott is the reliever version of Nava. Like Nava, Scott went undrafted and started his career in pro ball only Scott played for the Yuma Scorpions of the independent league where he was teammates with Jose and Ozzie Canseco. It’s like wanting to be a baseball player and the only job available was with the circus. He almost quit baseball to become a teacher, which considering his circumstances, made perfect sense. But now he’s in a major league bullpen!
24. Fenway Park. I don’t care that the seats are small and everything costs a fortune. Okay, I care, but the point is that’s the place Ruth played, where Williams and Yaz and Ortiz all made their names. It’s worth it, it’s worth every bit of it. Fenway is on the top of any list of major league ballparks because it’s living history, but also because it’s damn beautiful right now. Really, it’s at the top of any list of pro sports stadiums that you have to visit. It’s the best.
25. Fernando Abad has been okay!
26. Rick Porcello’s immaculate inning. Remember that?! That was crazy!
27. Rafael Devers’ triple play. Remember that?!? That was crazy!
28. Unexpected stuff is lots of fun, when it’s good, and Porcello’s 2016 was exactly that. Drew Pomeranz has taken up where Rick Porcello’s 2016 season left off. Pomeranz has been as valuable as Jose Quintana and Jake Arrieta by BP’s metrics, and as valuable as Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander by Baseball Reference. Pomeranz has been what the Red Sox thought they were getting when they signed David Price. He’s been that good.
29. Chris Young’s weird short-armed swing is so weird. How does he hit the ball? I don’t know!
30. Chris Sale has over 253 strikeouts which coincidentally is the same number of times I would strike out against Chris Sale were I to bat against him 253 times.
31. Heath Hembree’s hair. It’s like he saw the movie Coming To America where Eddie Murphy’s character wears soul glow hair goop and thought, yeah, that’s what I want.
32. Have you seen those embarrassing high school pictures the relievers (probably Joe Kelly) have hung in the bullpen? They’re hilarious!

This is only a partial list. There’s also Brian Johnson’s complete game five-hitter against the Mariners in May, Tzu-Wei Lin getting three hits in a 15-1 win over the Blue Jays, and of course, that time Deven Marrero hit two homers in the same game off Jose Quintana. It really does go on and on with this team. They are a ton of fun, and that will be true whether they go out meekly in the first round, or win the World Series. Even after a spanking from Cleveland, I look forward to the next Red Sox game. Fun times are good.

Photo by Ken Blaze – USA TODAY Sports

That’s why it’s time to get on board with Brandon Workman. Workman has quietly been increasing his workload, throwing 46 pitches in 3.2 innings spread out over the last seven days. In fact, in the month since Workman returned, he’s thrown more innings (16.2) than any pitcher in the bullpen. He has the best WHIP (0.78), is walking the fewest amount of hitters (3.3 percent) and has the second-lowest average against (.193) of anyone who’s thrown at least 10 relief innings in the last 30 days. Teammates think he might even be better than he was before Tommy John:

Matt Barnes said he thinks Brandon Workman might be better now than he was pre-Tommy John.

— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) August 10, 2017

Basically, Workman has been at least the second-best relief pitcher over the last month. Given Kimbrel’s (relative) shakiness over that same period of time, a convincing argument could be made that Workman’s been their best option since he returned.

He’s been great in high leverage situations, too. There was this performance against Kansas City:

And then this against Cleveland:

Given that he’s shown the ability to be relied on in big spots – not just this season, either – and that the Red Sox generally don’t have many better options, it makes no sense that of Workman’s 17.1 innings this season, 11.2 of them have been innings designated as “low leverage.”

At this point, I’d argue there’s no clear preferred choice for who gets the eighth inning. If you’re terrified of pitching your set-up guy on the road, is he really a reliable set-up guy? Workman’s even got his old fastball back, touching 95 on multiple occasions this season:

(Interesting note: Workman has completely given up on throwing his change up this year)

A healthy Workman that’s pitching this well deserves more chances to prove himself in high-leverage situations. He was a successful set-up guy in the World Series before health derailed his career – now that he’s seemingly back on track, it’s time to give him the eighth inning and see what he does with it.

Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox have a closer in Craig Kimbrel, and they have some set-up-y men in Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, if manager John Farrell chooses to push him that far, and Joe Kelly, should he return to health. You could make the argument that Kelly’s horrendous strikeout rate, Barnes’ propensity to walk hitters, and the fact that Workman hasn’t worked for going on four seasons makes them all ill-suited for a set-up role, and that argument, should you make it, might not be wrong.

It should be pointed out however that the Red Sox bullpen, cobbled together though it may be, has been one of the best pens in all of baseball. To date they’ve been ninth in strikeout percentage, fifth lowest in walk percentage, and fourth lowest in home runs per nine innings. And yet…well, yeah, I know. It’s not like this bullpen has a bunch of big names after Kimbrel that you’d feel comfortable giving the ball to in a close playoff game. So let’s explore the trade market for relievers together, shall we?

We should probably start by saying that the Red Sox missed the boat on two relievers who would’ve been hugely helpful in Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson, both formerly of the White Sox. The Yankees gave up big prospects for them so there wasn’t much Boston could do given the state of their minor league system, but it’s unfortunate that those guys are going to actively work against the Red Sox instead of help them. Anyway. Moving on.

There are more than a few relievers on the market who could help the Red Sox immediately and immensely. Names like Justin Wilson, Pat Neshek, Addison Reed, Raisel Iglesias, and Felipe Rivero all come to mind. The issue, as always, is how much will they cost. The thing about relievers is that today’s excellent shut-down reliever is tomorrow’s over-priced homer-prone mess, and tomorrow’s over-priced homer-prone mess is the day after tomorrow’s Tommy John surgery recipient or DFA candidate. So it’s dicy. The Yankees went all in on Robertson, who due to make about $20 million between now and the end of next season, and Kahnle, who has never pitched this well before and is throwing sliders at a rate that could make your arm explode if I told you what the rate is. That’s not to say those guys won’t help the Yankees now, in the playoffs, or next season. They will, or could, or might. But they’re relievers. So you can never say for sure. The only thing for sure is what you just paid to get them.

One of the relievers who figures to be dealt before the 31st is Justin Wilson. Wilson is the Tigers closer and the Tigers just figured out they’re not going anywhere and teams that aren’t going anywhere need what they can get for a closer at the deadline far more than they need a closer. So Wilson is available. He’s 29, left-handed, and has seen a big jump in his strikeout rate this season, so… yeah. Relievers. Anyway, his walk rate is pretty high too, almost to Barnes-ian levels. That and as a closer he figures to be expensive. But he’s under team control through next season and he’d be an upgrade for Boston even with those issues, so perhaps there’s a deal for Dombrowski to make with his former team.

Another name that has been bandied about the interwebs is that of Pat Neshek. Neshek is on the Phillies, so you know he’s available and despite his age (36, almost 37) he’s been incredibly good. His strikeout rate is up and his walk rate is down and he’s been equally effective against both left-handed hitters and righties this season despite his odd style of throwing. He is a fly ball pitcher so that might work against him in Fenway Park, and his stats are helped by the fact that the ball has stayed in the park maybe a bit more than his actual skill would dictate this season. Still, the overall package is a shutdown reliever. The Phillies will look to cash in their one trade chip, but given that Neshek is old, doesn’t throw hard, and will be a free agent at the end of the year, perhaps there’s a non-crazy price that’s worth paying here.

Another reliever available is Addison Reed, a fastball/slider pitcher with a good strikeout rate and a minuscule walk rate who is toiling away for the Mets. Like Neshek he’s a fly ball pitcher without platoon splits on a one year deal who would look great in an eighth inning role for the Red Sox. So would Brad Hand of the Padres. Hand would be an incredible get by Dombrowski as his strikeout and walk numbers have been fantastic this season (32.1 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively). He’s not a free agent until 2020 either so the Red Sox would have him for a number of years, though as a reliever, who knows how valuable that would actually be. The point would be to put him into the eighth inning role in 2017 and watch the wins roll in, which they might actually do. The problem would be the cost, because even if we look at those years of control and go “eh?” the Padres are still gonna charge you for them. That plus the fact that Hand is damn good and therefore a bunch of teams are going to want him will likely push him outside the bounds of what the Red Sox are willing to pay. Reed may wind up being more the Red Sox speed. Or he may prove too expensive as well. It’s the deadline and we’re talking about relievers so things tend to get crazy.

The overall point is that though the Yankees got better with Kahnle and Robertson, there are other relievers out there who are just as good, or as good as Robertson anyway, and would help the Red Sox. A pen with Kimbrel, and either Reed, Neshek, or Hand would be fantastic, especially if Workman proves to be worth something, especially especially if Barnes’ new motion pays dividends, especially especially especially if Carson Smith ever makes it back healthy before the year closes out. You don’t have to squint too hard to see how you might feel much better about the Boston bullpen in one of those scenarios.

All of which is to say the Red Sox have the makings of a solid bullpen. They don’t absolutely need to go out and get someone else. They have guys and those guys have been surprisingly effective to date. But these are relievers. So the more you have, the better off you are. Because really, who the heck knows.

Photo by Eric Hartline – USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Workman came up in the Red Sox system as a starter and was very successful in doing so. Drafted in 2010, Workman started in Low-A Greenville in 2011 and moved quickly, progressing to High-A Salem and ultimately to Double-A Portland by the close of 2012. By 2013, he finished his climb from Double-A, finishing strong in Triple-A Pawtucket and posting his best ERA of any level at 2.80. He then got his call to the show.

The last good memory I have of Workman is from the improbable 2013 Red Sox World Series run.  Pitching out of the bullpen, Workman was able to make seven impressive appearances, ending the postseason with an ERA of 0.00. Sure, his excellent ERA was backed by middling strikeout rates and an unsustainable 90 percent strand rate, but he was nonetheless instrumental in getting key outs in October.

The year after celebrating with champagne and bud light, things started to go awry for Workman.  Heading into 2014 the plan was to keep Workman stretched out and have him work as a starter. This went very poorly. Workman limped to the finish of 2014 season posting a bloated ERA of 5.17 to go along with a 1-10 record. Things didn’t get much better last year and John Farrell decided, correctly, that Workman is best suited for use out of the pen.  Workman just didn’t look right from the get-go, posting an ERA of 6.43 in the spring only to be shut down on April with UCL damage. After trying rehab he went under the knife in mid-June as he now recovers from Tommy John surgery.

What Went Right?

Well, at least he found the problem. The reason why Workman stunk up the joint during the spring was likely because he was pitching with a torn UCL. Who knows exactly when the injury occurred but what we did find out was that the bullpen is where he needs to be. As a starter, Workman’s stuff played way down.

Workman’s velocity dropped by two miles per hour on two of his key pitches: the cutter and the four-seam fastball. At 91 mph, his whiff rate on his fastball, which he throws over 50 percent of the time, dropped from over 10 percent as a reliever to just over five percent as a starter.  The cutter remained effective, staying in double-digits in terms of whiff rate, but still dropped by three percentage points.

As a reliever Workman was able to maintain three pitches with double-digit whiff rates, with his curveball arguably serving as his best weapon.

What Went Wrong?

The waiting. In April, it was known that Workman had torn his UCL. Rather than trying rehab and using platelet rich plasma therapy he should have just gone for the surgery. This decision cost him two months of recovery time.  That being said, at just 27 years old Workman is still plenty young and should be recovered and pitching in games by the all-star break.

Outlook for 2016

It would be folly to expect big contributions from Workman this coming year since, albeit commonplace, Tommy John surgery is still a big deal. With a bullpen that features right-handers Craig Kimbrel, Koji Uehara, Carson Smith, Junichi Tazawa and long-man Steven Wright, the need for Workman’s presence is not urgent.  If an injury happens the Red Sox can turn to Matt Barnes, who was much improved at the end of last year, rather than putting pressure on Workman.

Look for Workman to spend the majority of the season getting his footing back in Triple-A Pawtucket for a possible return when rosters expand in September. If Dave Dombrowski has properly done his job and the Red Sox find themselves headed into October baseball, the addition of Workman will inject new life into the bullpen and would be a huge benefit.  For 2017 and beyond I believe he will be a key righty out of the pen.

Photo by Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports Images

An example! Last season the Red Sox used 12 different starting pitchers. The season before that they used 11. The World Series-winning season of 2013? Eleven different starters were used. Going back five years, the Red Sox have used an average of over 10 starters per season. So we know there have to be starters waiting to take over rotation slots when injuries and downturns in performance happen. And they will happen because they always happen. So who are those guys slated to step in for the Red Sox? Who are their next five?

The first is probably Roenis Elias. Elias came over from the Mariners with reliever Carson Smith in the deal that cost the Red Sox Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro. We can be plain about this: Elias wasn’t the reason the Red Sox made the deal. He’s a nice throw-in, but nothing else. Smith was the big prize. The reason things are the way they are is that, to date, Elias hasn’t been a very good starting pitcher. I have my curiosities about him as a potential reliever (he’s absolutely dominated left-handed hitters in his career) but all his numbers so far indicate he walks too many guys and gives up too many homers to right-handed hitters, of which there are many more than the lefties he loves to face.

Elias doesn’t have much in the way of upside. He won’t hurt in small quantities, in fact that’s likely his highest and best purpose, but if the Red Sox find him reaching double digits in starts they’ll have done something wrong. That said, he does have the most major league experience as a starter of any of the rest of the available starters the Red Sox might turn to in a pinch. He’s good to have, but bad to use, if that makes any sense.

After Elias … actually, here’s a fun trivia question. Of the 11 pitchers who started games for the 2013 World Series Champion Red Sox, three are still on the roster. One is Clay Buchholz. Name the other two.

And now I’m totally spoiling this. One is Steven Wright. We’ll get to the other in a few paragraphs. So, Wright. If you’re reading this you probably know about Wright. He’s a knuckleballer, heir to the Wakefield crown in Red Sox-dom, but not because he is as good as Wakefield so much as because he has the same repertoire. Like Elias, Wright is a fine stop-gap, but not any kind of long term solution. I mention this because if there’s a major injury the Red Sox aren’t going to be able to rely on Wright (or Elias) for much beyond the time it would take to wait for a trade to be made or, more likely…

Henry Owens! Owens features more upside than either Elias or Wright, though there is some question of whether or not he can succeed at all with his spotty command and his high-80s fastball. If his command improves he’s by far Boston’s best option in this group, and considering how Boston has five guys ahead of him in the rotation, Owens figures to start the season in Triple-A Pawtucket so there will more frequent and less painful chances for Owens to step forward, hone his command, and become that middle of the rotation guy the Red Sox badly want him to become.

After the above three, there are really only two guys on the roster who have a chance to step out onto the mound in the first inning of a game for the Red Sox this season. The first is Brian Johnson, and the second is Brandon Workman. Both are coming off injuries; Workman underwent Tommy John surgery which cost him much of the 2015 season, and Johnson suffered an elbow injury which cost him the end of 2015. Workman will spend most of the season recovering and working to get back after the surgery, so don’t figure on seeing him in a Red Sox uniform until at least after the All Star break, and probably not until well after that. Even so, it’s not entirely clear where he best fits into Boston’s plans. He may not be a starter going forward, even though he has been one much of his career with the Red Sox. Of course, the Red Sox will be able to evaluate him during his rehabilitation, but likely he’s not much of a long term starter option. Think of Workman like Elias. He’s good to have, just hope you don’t actually have to use him.

Johnson is a different story. He seems likely to be healthy, or at least to start out that way, and he’s definitely a starting pitcher. His potential problem is his health. Johnson suffered a nerve issue in his elbow that forced him to miss the final two months of the season. That does not sound good. Still, the Red Sox insist he’s healthy and his upside, especially in this group, is enticing. The strike-throwing left-hander figures to be a back of the rotation guy, maybe a three or four at best, but if healthy he’s the kind of player who the team could plug in with relatively few worries should one of the lesser starters go down for an extended period of time.

On the whole, the team actually has some intriguing depth here. Elias, the starter with major league experience, would likely be the first one called upon should the need arise, but if Johnson gets healthy or Owens takes a step forward, there is some upside here. Of course if something were to happen to one of the top three starters, the Red Sox have enough depth in their minor league system to make a trade for a starter. Still, a time will likely come during the 2016 season when the Red Sox will need a spot start or two, and possibly two in a row, and they’ll need to call upon a pitcher who can give them five or so innings while not blowing the game open. With Elias, Wright, Owens, Johnson, and Workman, the Red Sox seem to have that.

Oh, and the final part of the answer to that trivia question? Brandon Workman. Bet you didn’t guess that.

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