Yahoo red sox news8/10/2023 After Xander Bogaerts’ departure and the signing of outfielder Masataka Yoshida, the need for at least one middle-of-the-order bat is even more glaring and the holes in the lineup still include shortstop, catcher, and designated hitter. Last month, I floated some Red Sox trade ideas with the Arizona Diamondbacks that included Houck in packages for one of their young outfielders, not because I want to see Houck go, but because the pickings are slim. Dalbec, Duran, and Downs aren’t bringing back a whole lot. The Red Sox have very few trade assets with major league experience, other than Houck and Alex Verdugo. It’s also conceivable that Houck could be pitching for another team. If something ever happened to Jansen, Houck could be the closer, which he did for two months in the second half of ‘22, finishing a total of 14 games and saving 8 of those before a back injury ended his season. It could also be as a swing man Houck entered nine games between the 4 th and 7 th innings in 2022. If Houck is in Boston, it could be as a starter which the team told Houck to build up to and prepare for this offseason (Houck made four starts in 2022). The spectrum is wide for Tanner Houck’s role in 2023, as it was in 2022. No pitcher in all of baseball had a better walk rate (2.2%) than Martin in ‘22 (min: 50 IP) and with a 3.3% career walk rate (1.22 BB/9), he seems like a clear choice to pitch the 8 th inning. 34 strikeouts and one walk, with only four earned runs allowed over 24 2/3 innings in LA was parlayed into a two-year, $17.5M contract in Boston. Over the next year-and-a-half, Martin threw a decent 65 innings before a trade to the Dodgers at the ’22 deadline sent him into an absolute heater. Martin first emerged in the short 2020 season, throwing 18 innings with a 1.00 ERA and 0.61 WHIP in Atlanta. Setup – Chris Martin (CHC/LAD: 56 IP, 4-1, 2 SV, 3.05 ERA, 2.18 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 30.7 K-BB%) Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsĪnother reliever whose breakout seasons occurred with the Braves and Dodgers. Good thing that there are five months to prepare for the new pitch clock rules. Next issue to tackle? No pitcher had a slower tempo between pitches in all of baseball in 2022 with runners on base (31.4 seconds). Jansen is not quite on Mo’s level, but with 391 career saves, he has the right idea of how to stay effective in the later years. A closer named Rivera once survived on a cutter well into his forties. It was the second best cutter in all of baseball in 2022 by Fangraphs Pitch Value, behind Corbin Burnes. A closer who has pitched in 59 playoff games between the Dodgers and Braves, with a 2.20 ERA.Īs his velocity has dropped, Jansen has transitioned to the cutter over the last two seasons and it’s become a dominant pitch. In this pitching market, both for starters and relievers, where almost every pitcher that is signed raises some eyebrows, the contract is fair for the clear top closer available. In fact, he was the necessary fit for this team a year ago at this time, but lessons have been learned. However, he was a necessary fit for this team at this time. He may not be worth two years and 32 million dollars. The 35-year-old Jansen is no longer the best closer in baseball and he hasn’t been for the past five seasons. Closer - Kenley Jansen (‘22 LAD stats: 64 IP, 5-2, 41 SV, 3.38 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 24.2% K-BB%)ĭan hit on most of the key points in his New Guy piece on Wednesday. Here’s a look at the group and the roles that I would anticipate the relievers to fall into, at least to open the season. Tendered contracts, some more expected than others, along with some key free agent signings over the past two weeks leaves this area of the roster feeling a lot more complete than the rest of the team. While a lot of work still needs to be done for the Red Sox roster to look complete in 2023, the bullpen could be entirely set at this point. Had they added a closer and another power righty, the rest of the roles could’ve fallen into place. The Red Sox bullpen in 2022 would be hard to describe as anything other than “an unmitigated disaster,” and one that many of us could see coming from a mile away.
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