Sox Bullpen – Still Overworked

In the LA series, Sox starters shone as brightly as they had all year. But one series does not a season make. They have to keep it up.

 

You don't have to be Bill James to figure out that for most of the year, the Boston bullpen has been overworked-sometimes badly. Simple arithmetic shows that-excluding the ever-rehabbing Clay Buchholz- the rotation has not averaged enough innngs.

 

Figuring out this stat is easy; simply divide the number of innings pitched by the number of starts. Buchholz started off strong in this area- 84 innings in 12 starts gives him a fine 7.0 average. That means that in the games where the Sox were in the lead, the relievers would only need to pitch two frames to nail down the win. But the five men who currently make up the starting rotation don't even come close to Bucky's performance.

 

The hurlers' innings pitched per start (call it IPS) are close to each other, and not particularly good. John Lackey leads with 6.4, followed closely by Jon Lester at 6.3, Jake Peavy (counting Chicago) also at 6.3, and Ryan Dempster and Felix Doubront at a rather unsatisfactory 5.8. Sometimes individuals have done better, such as against the Dodgers. But more common has been Peavy's performance in the middle game in San Francisco. Staked to a 2-0 lead, Jake had to depart after 5 2/3. He surrendered a run in the fifth, and left in the sixth with a man on second and two outs. He had already thrown 92 pitches, and John Farrell apparently thought it was time for a change. But 3 1/3 innings still remained, and four relievers could not preserve the advantage, leading to a walkoff loss.

 

Closer Koji Uehara is still throwing well, despite 58 appearences. Craig Breslow also seems to be holding up well after 46 games. But the rest of the pen seems shaky of late. Junichi Tazawa, (58 games, many in a setup role), has begun to fade. He has been reached for 8 homers, and on Wednesday surrendered the tying run. After a strong start, Drake Britton has also been hit hard. Franklin Morales and newcomer Brayan Villarreal have not done the job, and neither has Matt Thornton.

 

A number of Sox folds in the past have been caused by a worn-out bullpen. Part of the 78 slide took place when a young Bob Stanley was used by Don Zimmer for 141 innings, most of them in relief. Most fans remember Mike Torrez surrendering the screen job to Bucky Dent, but it was Stanley who gave up two hits in relief, including the winning run on a Reggie Jackson homer. Stanley's season stats were impressive- a 15-2 mark with 10 saves, but at the end, he couldn't do the job.

 

There is only one way to improve this; the starters simply have to go longer. We need to see what we saw in Los Angeles on a more regular basis.