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

We had Robbie Ross and Robby Scott, two guys who both threw left handed, sported solid facial hair, and were ticketed for at least some LOOGY work in 2017, if not more than that. “The Robbys are warming up in the bullpen,” would be a good line. “Double-bearded action for the twin southpaws” would be another one. You’d know who they are the moment the line was said. Endless joke possibilities for a solid reliever who we’d supposedly see pitching often.

The Double Robby Funtime Era didn’t even last two months into the season. Fighting such maladies like the flu, ineffectiveness, elbow inflammation, and back issues, Ross cobbled together nine altogether bad innings in 2017. The Red Sox weren’t exactly prolific in deploying their left-handed relievers last year, but this was essentially a lost year for Ross.

What Went Right

Sometimes it’s really, really hard to find something good, especially when your total playing time is essentially the length of a single game. He didn’t give up a home run, that’s a good thing. More strikeouts than walks, also good. But by now you know I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel for good things to say, so here’s the only 2017 highlight MLB uploaded focusing on Robbie Ross. It’s not even a strikeout, but he did field his position well!

What Went Wrong

Where do we even begin? How about when he was used so sparingly that he got optioned to Pawtucket on April 28th for the bus riding expertise of Ben Taylor? Or do we open with the fact that the Rays scored five runs off of him in 4.2 innings combined? Maybe we can start with him having about two lengthy stints on the disabled list for three different things. Granted, we can’t really look into the actual performance too much, but there isn’t a lot to go on unless you want to lament on a year lost for him. Would he have made a major impact on this team’s performance? Probably not, but a good pitcher is useful nonetheless, and Ross was very solid in 2016. Even with a bullpen unit as good as the one the Red Sox had in 2017, you can never have too much pitching.

What To Expect

Ross is all but gone. He was released in early November, and we’ve heard very little since. The only notable nugget of news regarding him has been that the Blue Jays had some interest in him in early December. He’ll probably struggle to find anything lucrative on the free agent market, seeing as he’s coming off of back surgery, and that the free agent market is moving at a glacial pace right now. But Ross does indeed throw left handed and he has a heartbeat. Teams have taken chances on far less than that, but the Red Sox might not be the ones to gamble on him.

Photo by Patrick McDermott — USA TODAY Sports

Scott got his innings in, all 35.2 of them. Being at the bottom of the bullpen depth chart isn’t exactly thrilling, but as one of the very few left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster, Scott had a pretty solid spot for most of the season. He would bounce back and forth a couple times over the rest of the season, but Scott would still getting southpaws out at a mostly acceptable rate. Right-handed batters, though, that was a different story entirely.

What Went Right

Scott was still a menace to anything left-handed. He held them to a stellar .119/.224/.303 line in over 20 innings, turning him into the most effective reliever on the team against left-handed batters, and that even includes Craig Kimbrel, patron saint of remarkably absurd reliever stats. Scott had his fair share of escapes as well, including this high-wire act in Cleveland where he struck out Jay Bruce and Bradley Zimmer to preserve the tie:

Being a LOOGY isn’t the flashiest thing, but they get their 15 seconds of fame just like everyone else.

What Went Wrong

Everything that wasn’t under the “versus L” split. Right-handed hitters had his number, posting a .814 OPS against the southpaw, and he gave up four home runs in just 15 innings of pitching to righties. It was bad. But don’t worry, it gets worse, because his home/road splits are objectively horrifying.

Cover your kids’ eyes before reading the rest of this segment. It’s not for children nor the faint of heart.

At home, he held all hitters to a .427 OPS. That’s pretty good! On the road, opposing batters lit him up, as he allowed 5 homers in just 15.2 innings and was pinned to a .927 OPS. That’s pretty bad! Thing is, he was still solid against lefties on the road, which speaks to how awful he truly was when there was no same-side advantage working in his favor. I could go on but the theme here is blatantly obvious: if it wasn’t a left-handed hitter, Scott was getting destroyed. They are his hard counters.

What To Expect

As optimistic as I was last year, it’s hard to think he’ll be much more than the second lefty in the bullpen. He has a major home run issue, and his batted ball profile suggests it won’t change much, especially when it comes to right-handed hitters. Scott wasn’t often misused in 2017, and it’s hard to see him being put in worse situations in 2018, seeing how dramatic his splits were. If he can keep the ball from leaving the park so much, he’ll stick around a lot longer than any of use expect.

Photo by Eric Hartline — USA TODAY Sports

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 2017 Red Sox bullpen is no exception to Matt’s Predictable Rule of Bullpen Unpredictability. Think about where we were with Boston’s pen before the season started. Back then the pen featured (from back to front) Craig Kimbrel, Tyler Thornburg, Carson Smith (we hoped), Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, Robbie Ross, Heath Hembree, and maybe Fernando Abad, if we were all collectively unlucky. We’re almost three months into the season, which is to say a few games away from half way done, and the Red Sox bullpen is missing 40 percent of that expected bullpen. Maybe Carson Smith will find his way back at some point this year, but Thornburg is gone, and Ross is gone with no timetable for return. That means the rest of the bullpen needs to step up.

Oddly, they have. Mostly. The Red Sox have one of the best bullpens in baseball by WAR, and one of the best by ERA. DRA tells a different story though and it’s perhaps the one that, to me at least, feels the most accurate. The bullpen has been a source of success for the Red Sox this season for certain, but, as is the nature of bullpens and this bullpen in particular, things often feel shaky. Perhaps the most shaky of them all is, to me at least, Matt Barnes. Coincidentally, Barnes is also the one who was thrust into the vacant eighth inning role leading to closer Craig Kimbrel during games Boston found itself with the lead going into the eighth inning. Of Barnes 36 appearances (through Wednesday), 20 have come in the eighth inning. This is all to say Barnes has been manager John Farrell’s choice as the second most important man in the bullpen, a role that often makes him, when WPA is factored in, the most important man in the bullpen. The closer gets the saves and the game ball but it’s often the eighth inning guy who faces the harder competition. That’s the role Matt Barnes found himself in, and it’s not a particularly good role for hiding one’s self from failure.

So now, finally, we get to the point of all this: Matt Barnes and his problems and the solution to those problems. Onward!

We’ll start with some dates. On June 14th Barnes pitched a scoreless inning against the Phillies. He struck out two and walked one. On June 16th Barnes pitched another scoreless inning against the Astros. He struck out one and walked one. On June 18th Barnes entered the eighth against Houston with the Red Sox up 6-4. Barnes walked the first two hitters then got Carlos Correa to line out hard to left field. Those walks combined with the very hard contact was enough for Farrell and he replaced Barnes with Robby Scott. Barnes had tried to set that game on fire but luck, Farrell’s quick hook, and some good pitching by Scott saved him. He wasn’t so lucky three days later against Kansas City. Again he entered for the eighth inning and again it was with a two run lead and again he walked the first two hitters. This time Farrell didn’t wait for the hard contact to happen and pulled Barnes immediately and brought in Scott. This time the move didn’t work as Scott walked the third consecutive batter and then gave up a grand slam home run to Salvador Perez. During this sequence of games, Barnes pitching was getting worse and worse. He couldn’t locate his fastball, repeatedly leaving it up in the zone in a non-competitive location. Take a look at this zone plot from that game.

Often times a player goes through a rough patch and doesn’t change anything substantial, focusing instead on doing what they’ve always done in the hopes that success will come as it always has (these are major leaguers, after all). Barnes, to his credit, didn’t do that. Instead he altered his delivery, making it more like former teammate Andrew Miller’s. The change has to do with his leg lift. Instead of bringing his knee up to his belt as he had before, instead he barely lifts his foot off the ground then sweeps his leg along the ground.

Barnes made the same comparison to Evan Drellich of CSN New England after that game. “I just simplified the mechanics,” Barnes said. “Two days ago, I was trying to get with more of an up, down, and out approach. And then just kind of went into a slide step, doing what Andrew Miller was doing.”

The change suits Barnes, who now has more time for his arm to get over the top on his pitches, hopefully leading to better command.

For a visual, here’s Barnes pitching against the Phillies.

And now here’s Barnes against the Twins.

Since making the change, Barnes has thrown just two innings, but in those two innings he’s struck four hitters out while not giving up any hits or, most importantly, walks. Compare that to his previous five outings where Barnes totaled 3.1 innings pitched, four runs allowed, four strikeouts, and seven walks.

Two innings against the Twins aren’t enough to determine if Matt Barnes is now the next Andrew Miller, or more likely, a slightly improved version of Matt Barnes. But it is interesting to note that even before the mechanical change, Barnes was getting lots of strikeouts. He’s now striking out over 30 percent of the hitters he faces. The problem is he was walking more than 12 percent. It’s hard to trust a guy in the late innings who is putting runners on for free at that rate, even with the impressive strikeout rate. Barnes has the bones of a guy who, with a bit more command, could be the eighth inning lockdown reliever the Red Sox have been repeatedly trading significant pieces of their farm system in search of. Perhaps this mechanical alteration can be the fix that unlocks Matt Barnes.

Photo by Patrick McDermott – USA TODAY Sports

The four-game series in Detroit left a bad taste in our mouths, and for some of the players, that’s a very literal statement. Apart from the anemic, flu-riddled roster that was fielded, John Farrell’s managing late in games wasn’t always proactive. A couple of those games were very winnable, yet the Red Sox lost both, and ended up winning just one of the four games against the Tigers. Most of the gripes stemmed from the loss on April 9th, which saw the Sox score five runs in the top of the 8th inning, only to give up the lead in the bottom part of the frame. So let’s take a deeper look at that.

To start off the bottom of the 8th, Heath Hembree is brought in to deal with Nick Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera. The only other person warming in the bullpen is Robby Scott, who’s supposed to keep Tigers manager Brad Ausmus from pinch-hitting with a lefty. It’s not really needed, seeing as there’s no way in hell you’re using a bench bat over Castellanos, Cabrera, or Justin Upton.

In dominating fashion, Hembree blows through Castellanos and Cabrera, with the strikeout of Castellanos being a shining example of pitch command.

Sliders and fastballs on the black. They had a plan to attack him, and they executed it perfectly.

Now, after those two outs, Hembree struggles with Victor Martinez, and walks him. That’s not particularly bad, since V-Mart is a good hitter, and having Hembree face a guy who can bat lefty could’ve gone much worse. The issue is the next plate appearance with Justin Upton, because Hembree lost all control.

It looks like a pitiful firework. You can’t even tell what they were trying to do here, and the contrast with the Castellanos PA is striking. This was a clear sign that Hembree needed to be taken out.

At this point, the situation had escalated into a high leverage outing, and needed a good reliever. Was Craig Kimbrel up in the bullpen? No, it was still only Robby Scott that was warm, with Joe Kelly getting loose. Farrell has no choice but to put in Scott, as Tyler Collins is up next. However, since he was forced to make a move too early, Ausmus counters with Mikie Mahtook, and Mahtook doubles in the tying run. Farrell then brings in Kelly, who proceeds to load the bases, and then walks in the go-ahead run. Kelly might not have been fully warmed up, but he couldn’t even get a pitch in the lower half of the zone against any of the three batters he faced.

You can blame the players here for not performing, and that’s a legitimate gripe. Hembree’s command disappearing and Kelly being less than effective aren’t thing’s a manager can control. That’s solely on the players. But a manager can – and you can go as far to say that he’s supposed to – put his players in the best possible positions to win, and that’s what Farrell did not do here. Scott really shouldn’t be used against right-handed hitters, Kelly ended up being a human panic button, and Kimbrel was nowhere to be found.

After last year’s playoffs, managing decisions have had more light shined on them, especially when it comes to reliever use. The wildly successful way Terry Francona used Andrew Miller and Cody Allen almost demands adaptation, because being set in archaic bullpen roles is simply throwing away flexibility. But this response to not using Kimbrel is frustrating to hear:

Farrell: “There’ll be a time this season when we go to Kimbrel for four outs, but not in Game 3.”

— Brian MacPherson (@brianmacp) April 7, 2017

If each game counts the same, why wouldn’t you use him now? Sure, you don’t want to blow out your bullpen early, but that was a winnable game. Even if the decision doesn’t work out, it would’ve been better to put your best foot forward and given yourself a chance.

That’s another thing when it comes to managing – you can (and will!) make all the right decisions and still lose. That’s what happened in the final game of that Detroit series. Chris Sale pitched two outs into the 8th inning, then allowed a two-out double to Andrew Romine and walked Ian Kinsler. Farrell had the option of going to the bullpen for Castellanos, but Sale had consistently beaten him that day, and at that point, was there really an option in the bullpen you’d take over Sale? Probably not. Farrell made the right choice here, despite the go-ahead RBI single that followed. Sometimes, things just don’t work out.

Sometimes, things go better than you expected. Last night, Farrell tried to get one more out from Drew Pomeranz by having him face Chris Davis. Pomeranz jammed him on the last pitch, but Chris Davis is a very strong human, and was able to fight it off for a single. Hembree comes in, and gives up a single to Welington Castillo. This looks bad, until Hembree strikes out Trey Mancini. Schoop grounded out to third to score Davis, and Hembree got JJ Hardy to groundout. The most brilliant move here was Farrell keeping Robby Scott warm in the bullpen, preventing Buck Showalter from using Seth Smith or Hyun-Soo Kim, who are both better hitters than Mancini. Just by keeping a lefty ready, Farrell deprived a team of two good hitters during an inning where they sorely needed them. That’s good managing.

Look, I don’t like to point fingers at Farrell for everything that goes wrong. He does some things badly, yes, but improving as a manager isn’t an instantaneous or obvious thing, and seeing stuff like what he did in the Orioles game gives me hope that he’s getting there. He’s not gonna manage circles around other teams, but with the talent on this team, he usually won’t have to do that. I’m probably reading too much into a week and a half of games, but there’s some baby steps here. We’ve just got to see more of them.

Robby Scott has had one hell of an adventure to the majors. Signed out of an independent league in 2011, Scott caught some scouts’ eyes due to a strange yet intriguing quirk: he switches arm slots depending on the handedness of the batter. After five years of toiling away in the minors, the 27-year-old got his first taste of the big leagues in 2016, and though it was only six innings long, Scott showed that he could fit in with a major league bullpen. However, 2017 probably won’t be the year it happens.

What Went Right In 2016

Other than the whole “reached the majors” thing, Scott cut up left-handed batters no matter what level he was at. In 27.2 IP at Pawtucket, Scott posted a 2.28 ERA with a 31 to 4 K/BB ratio. Overall, he amassed a 1.67 DRA with the PawSox before getting called up to Boston. Of those 18 outs he recorded, 11 were against left-handed hitters, and he struck out three, walked zero, and recorded a crispy 1.51 FIP in a very small sample. One of the punchouts ended on a called strike to Brett Gardner, and man, there’s not much you can do when the pitcher’s release point is behind you:

It looks like Scott’s hurling the breaking ball at his hip. Good luck with that, Brett.

What Went Wrong In 2016

Scott was painfully forgettable against right-handed hitting, even in the minors. Despite a different arm slot, even his peripherals in the minors were just bland. The strikeout-to-walk ratio fell to roughly 4-to-1 (compared to 8-to-1 against lefties), all his rates went in the wrong direction, and all the stuff you usually see when a left-handed pitcher is ineffective when on the wrong end of a platoon advantage popped up. Scott has an okay changeup to challenge them, but he’s best (puts on sunglasses) left in the bullpen when the righties are up.

What To Expect In 2017

With Robbie Ross and Fernando Abad taking the LOOGY spots in the bullpen, Scott will likely start the season in Pawtucket, barring an injury. He’ll probably be the first left-hander called up – with Noe Ramirez being the first RHP to be called upon – if either of them are injured. But barring a total implosion by Abad (which doesn’t seem all that unlikely), 2018 is the earliest Scott can expect to have a consistent role in the Red Sox bullpen. Abad will be a free agent and Scott will be a cheap in-house option to take up that second LHP spot. If he becomes anything more than a LOOGY, it’ll be a small developmental win for the Red Sox.

Photo by Kim Klement/USA Today Sports Images

As the season winds down, Sox fans and both the Boston and national media have spent a lot of time both looking ahead to October and remembering the past. Of course, we’re fondly remembering and reminiscing about the career of a certain designated hitter. Meanwhile, Sox fans contentedly peer practically to the future issue of playoff team management, like which players make the 25-man roster and the order of the starting rotation.

Much of the roster that will play in the ALDS is obvious, but some spots are up in the air. How many people would have projected Sandy Leon to be a starting catcher on this year’s division-champion Red Sox? The 27-year-old has exceeded all expectations, and while his spot is clearly secure, his backup is slightly uncertain. Christian Vazquez seems to have lost all traction in earning playing time, so the decision will come down to Bryan Holaday and Ryan Hanigan. Neither offers much sexiness at the plate and both would dwell at the bottom of the lineup.

As Pete Abraham points out in the Globe, the Red Sox are 21-8 in games started by Hanigan (48-32 since last season, according to Michael Silverman) and, given his longer tenure and experience with the pitching staff, he seems to be the safer bet. Hanigan has a little potential to play to David Ross 2013-like role in October. That may just be a comparison made for the sake of comparison, but ‘wily veteran backup catcher’ seems like a prerequisite for playoff success.

The roster gets a little more complicated in the bullpen. All of a sudden, after months of blown leads and late-inning implosions and overreactions to bullpen mismanagement (of which I am assuredly guilty), the Red Sox … have too many relievers. That can’t be right.

Along with Drew Pomeranz moving to the bullpen with some shoulder soreness and fatigue, the team has five relievers who seem like locks to make the playoff roster: Craig Kimbrel, Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler, Matt Barnes and Robbie Ross Jr. That leaves probably two spots (assuming 13 position players and 12 pitchers) for a group of pitchers who, frankly, have all pitched well enough in the past month of merit a roster spot: Heath Hembree, Fernando Abad, Robby Scott, Junichi Tazawa and Joe Kelly.

Pete Abe’s roster breakdown from above has Abad and Hembree making it as the final two. Maybe it’s the ease with which his name lends itself to unfortunate puns, but I have little confidence in Abad in high-leverage October situations. The lefty has a 6.39 ERA during his time in Boston and has allowed 13 hits and eight walks in 12.2 innings. Lefties, however, are just 3-for-23 against Abad since he arrived in Boston. On the year, he’s held opposing left-handers to a .459 OPS. That is, um, really good.

If the Sox are wary about Abad being bad (get it? It’s like his name), they would probably still want a lefty out of the pen other than Ross, who figures more as a long-relief out-getter. Maybe Pomeranz is healthy enough to pitch and pitch in tough spots in relief by the time the playoffs roll around. Regardless, Farrell may consider bringing Robby Scott into the fold. Scott, of course, has a comically short baseball-reference page, having made just six major league appearances in his career. But they’ve been good ones! The left-hander has thrown 5.1 scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing six runners to reach base. Lefty batters are 2-for-10 against him, so maybe Robby Scott is our LOOGY after all.

More importantly, can you imagine how much pleasure Joe Buck would get out of telling Scott’s undrafted-free-agent story to a national audience in the seventh inning of a playoff game? Give America the chance to hear it, John Farrell.

Much as I will always love him for his 2013 postseason performance (and you too, Brandon Workman, wherever you are currently rehabbing), Tazawa has looked worn out coming out of the bullpen and probably doesn’t end up on the roster. While his performances have been better of late, Farrell’s unwillingness to pitch Tazawa in high-leverage situations indicates that he’ll probably not be appearing in October.

So that leaves Hembree and Kelly. Prior to the nonsense grand slam Wednesday night, Kelly had yet to allow a run since returning to the bullpen in September. In 11.1 innings, he had allowed eight hits (all singles) and struck out 15. And, of course, Great Stuff. Kelly has it. Hembree, on the other hand, has worked to a 2.25 ERA in nine appearances since rejoining the roster in mid-August.

Given Hembree’s longer track record as a full-time reliever and the potential instability of other parts of the bullpen given Pomeranz’s injury and Scott’s inexperience, I wouldn’t be surprised if Farrell opts to put Hembree on the roster in favor of Kelly.

Quick Hits

The bullpen’s isn’t alone in helping the Red Sox to a division-clinching month of September. The rotation has been good and, with Pomeranz down, the postseason rotation is set to include David Price, Rick Porcello, Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez. As Silverman writes in the Herald, the Sox have lined Price up to pitch game 162 Sunday and then Game 2 of the ALDS, with Porcello going Game 1. Buchholz’s Long and Winding Road of a season continued with an impressive six-inning, one-hit performance at Yankee stadium Wednesday. At Over the Monster, Matt Collins asks if we should be worried about Playoff Clay. Eddie Rodriguez’s season looks ugly on the surface, 3-7 with a 4.68 ERA, a 118 cFIP and 5.53 DRA. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story of his 2016, as Ben Buchanan points out at Over the Monster. Rodriguez owns a more than respectable 3.10 ERA while limiting hitters to a .213 average since coming back from AAA on July 16.

This week, the nostalgia incurred by the impending retirement of David Ortiz has come out in full force. This, still, to me, is not actually happening. I have not reached a point of acceptance with the end of Papi’s career. Watching this team well over 100 times has numbed my senses to the ongoing commemorations and commercialization of David Ortiz’s baseball farewell. Every final game in *insert miscellaneous American League ballpark* has spawned gifts and celebrations and fairly emotionless goodbyes. They have all blended together.

Now, it’s real. Thursday’s game will mark the last time David Ortiz plays in Yankee Stadium. One more regular season series at home. That’s it. Now we’re talking about whether he’ll make the Hall of Fame, as Dan Shaughnessy wrote in the Globe.

Papi himself is penning Players Tribune farewells to Yankee fans. He is the website’s Editor at Large, after all. And Brian Cashman is answering questions about Ortiz’s career in the past tense.

I guess this is really happening. After spending literally more than half my life with David Ortiz in it, his career is coming to an end. How about a championship sendoff?

Photo by Dan Hamilton/USA Today Sports Images

Going Deep

The Red Sox are in good standing within the American League East; Baseball Prospectus has their probability of winning the division at 94.6%. So it is a pretty safe bet they will be playing in one of the two AL Division Series which means we can start considering how to align the starting rotation for that series. Given that the series is only five games played over seven nights, a rotation of three guys will work. David Price pitches Games 1 and 4,* while Rick Porcello throws Games 2 and 5 (or reverse those two names). So who throws Game 3? The candidates are Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz and Clay Buchholz. Two lefties and a righty. Here are their likely opponents wRC+ splits:

Man, it would be nice to play that luck-filled, below average Rangers’ offense. Other than the Rangers and Blue Jays, it appears as though the best option is to use one of the two lefty options – this is especially true if the Orioles are the opponent. While Pomeranz (3.40 ERA, 3.25 DRA) has had a better season than Rodriguez (4.84 ERA, 5.96 DRA), he has struggled lately, which Ian Browne of MLB.com suggests is due to fatigue. With this considered, perhaps riding the recently effective (and not fatigued) Rodriguez (3.18 ERA, 17/5 K/BB in September) is the better course of action.

Using Rodriguez in the rotation for the ALDS moves Pomeranz and Buchholz to the bullpen to relieve and wait for a chance to start in the ALCS should the team get that far. Buchholz has been shuffled all over the place this season and was all but written off around the trade deadline. Since then he has relieved and started effectively, and looks ahead to an opportunity to be relied upon to close out a division championship and take the ball in a potentially pivotal ALCS game. He recently spoke with David Laurila of FanGraphs about this issue as part of larger discussion on the need to be constantly adjusting over his career.

The pitching will garner a lot of our attention (for example, I just broke down the splits of potential opponents to determine the rotation two weeks ahead of that being necessary) and will likely be blamed for any team flameout. But really if the Red Sox are going to make a deep run in the playoffs this year their offense will need to carry them.

An important part of that Red Sox offense is Hanley Ramirez, who, in 2016, has emerged as the force that we expected when he signed with the team prior to last season. In the last 30 days, Hanley has been a man on fire, posting a .340/.405/.728 slashline with 12 home runs. On the season his line is up to .293/.363/.515 (.281 TAv, 129 wRC+). To put that in a perspective relevant to Red Sox fans: in 2015 his on-base percentage was .291, two points worse than his current batting average. Simply put, Hanley has been a force in the middle of the order. Alex Speier of The Boston Globe has more details on Hanley’s one-year transformation from a relatively easy out with little power, to a difficult out with frightening power.

Stories of positive clubhouse chemistry and player character tend to go hand-in-hand with a team’s results. When a team is winning, they have a strong chemistry. When a player is performing well, they are engaged and a leader in the clubhouse. Which thing comes first – winning or chemistry/character/leadership – remains to be demonstrated cleanly, so reading too much into these common narratives should be done with caution. Hanley Ramirez is often a strong example of this sort of story. When things are good, Hanley is a leader who has put his malcontent ways behind him (example, another example). So perhaps Michael Silverman’s article in the Boston Herald suggesting that Hanley has taken a leadership role on the 2016 Red Sox should not be surprising given Hanley’s (and the team’s) performance this year. Regardless of if Hanley’s clubhouse approach changed before the season or once things started rolling well for him, his presence as a veteran is an interesting, albeit peripheral, aspect to consider, especially given the article’s focus on his relationship with Yoan Moncada. Ideally Hanley just keeps hitting rockets all over the field and is, in turn, a positive influence on the younger players for the remainder of his Red Sox tenure.

Quick Hits

Much like Hanley Ramirez, Rick Porcello was a much maligned aspect of the 2015 Red Sox. His contract extension was questioned and likely contributed to Ben Cherington’s ouster. But this year Porcello is demonstrating his worth. His ERA is down almost two runs (4.92 to 3.08), with corresponding drops in FIP (4.13 to 3.44) and DRA (4.14 to 3.44). In light of Porcello’s 2016 performance, Alex Speier wonders what Porcello would be worth if he hit the free agent market now. All things considered, it now seems reasonable to view the extension Porcello signed with the Red Sox as a bargain. What a difference a year can make.

There was a time in the not too distant past that the Red Sox’s bullpen looked as though it would be the team’s undoing. However, lately that outlook has changed entirely and now the ‘pen appears to be a strength. Jen McCaffrey of MassLive notes that the relief group is rested and deep and ready for a postseason run. Tim Britton of The Providence Journal outlines a similar sentiment and suggests that the key to the bullpen’s about-face might be the return of Koji Uehara, who has resumed his eighth inning role with great success. What a difference a few weeks can make.

The Red Sox have players in the mix in a few of the end-of-year award categories, the foremost being American League MVP. While Mike Trout leads the universe in all forms of wins-above-replacement, voters will not necessarily perform a sort-by-WAR before filling out their MVP ballots. This means Mookie Betts, who has the second most WAR in the AL according to all three major forms of the measurement, has a chance to win. He is on a winning team, has 200+ hits, has 30+ HR and 100+ RBI, etc.. Yet, Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe suggests that Mookie may not even be the clear choice for the award on the Red Sox, as David Ortiz’s incredible final season deserves recognition.

Let’s take another moment to appreciate David Ortiz. Through Tuesday’s games here are Big Papi’s 2016 numbers and where they rank all-time among seasons by a 40+ year old (courtesy of Baseball-Reference):

He is putting on an awesome show. Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald recaps Ortiz’s recent meeting with the media in which he reflected on his career, his teammates, the 2016 Red Sox’s playoff chances, and the the possibility of being enshrined in Cooperstown.

A significant part of Mookie Betts’ MVP resume is his stellar defense in right field. A month ago in this Read Sox series I detailed how important the improved Red Sox defense has been to their success this season, specifically highlighting stories on Mookie’s arm. This time around we can appreciate his range. Deesha Thosar at MLB.com examines, with the help of Statcast, two awesome catches that Mookie made against the Yankees.

The Red Sox’s lone trade deadline acquisition was LOOGY Fernando Abad but he has been… well you’ve probably seen Ben Carsley’s article on the foreshadowing that exists in reliever last names. Abad’s performance has left open the role of LOOGY and 27-year old Robby Scott has made the most of his opportunities to assume it. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald outlines Scott’s long road to the major leagues and appreciation of all that came along the way. Scott has an excellent chance to add to his story with some high leverage moments in the postseason.

Three Good Game Stories

On Tuesday night, Eduardo Rodriguez was good-Eduardo and the offense managed to get things going off Kevin Gausman in a way they were unable to a week ago. The win made it six straight for the Sox and pushed their division lead over the O’s to five games with 11 to play. In his game story, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes that Rodriguez made a strong case to be the No. 3 starter for the team going forward. Hopefully he carries Tuesday’s result into his next start.

On Sunday, the Red Sox effectively ended the Yankees’ chances at a playoff spot this season, as they finished off the four-game series sweep. It was the first time the Red Sox swept a four-game series against the Yankees since 1990. Chris Mason of the Boston Herald has more on the hero of the night, Hanley Ramirez, who hit two home runs and earned a curtain call from the Fenway faithful.

Last Thursday the Red Sox got arguably their best win of the season when they rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Yankees. Hanley Ramirez was the hero again, sending a 99mph Dellin Betances fastball to the moon for a walk-off homer. Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe details how exciting the win was for the young players on the team who are experiencing a playoff run for the first time in their careers.

Photo by Greg M. Cooper/USA Today Sports Images