Here we are, May 8th, 28 games through the season. The Red Sox are currently last in the American League East with a record of 10-18, though it often feels a lot worse than that. Again and again we see the same things happen. Either first, the Red Sox produce a solid five innings or so on the mound whilst the offense refuses to do anything worth while, then hand it over to the bullpen who then blow the game, second, the offense chooses to wake up if and only if the starting pitching is bad, but then they decide to slow down the second the bullpen comes in and produces yet another disaster class, or third, neither the offense, pitching staff, bullpen, or coaching staff do anything well, and we lose. I can’t count off my fingers the amount of times something like that has happened; it feels like every other game the Red Sox take a lead into the ninth but fail to produce three more outs on defense.
Unlike many sports, baseball is truly so unexpected. It could be the best team in the league vs. the worst, yet the viewer is still left with a bit of uncertainty about who will take home the win. That’s not something you see in the NBA really… ever, nor are upsets like that common in the NFL. But in baseball, anything can happen, which is why it’s such an exciting sport and such a hard sport to watch sometimes too. But with this year's Red Sox, it feels like the team is following the same script game after game after game. The same end result each time too; usually a blown save. It’s clear what the Sox need most right now: a closer.
What do 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 all have in common? Any Red Sox fan knows the answer. Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest x-factors in all of those seasons was the bullpen. And most importantly, a quality, shut down closer. In 04’ it was Keith Foulke, in 07’ Papelbon, in 13’ it was Koji, and in 18’, it was Craig Kimbrel. In 2022 though, it’s clearly not Barnes, Diekman, Robles, Davis, Sawamura… the list goes on. Matt Strahm seems like an option, if only he’d be given the opportunity once in a while. And Garrett Whitlock, seemingly the best option for the job, has sort of transitioned into a starter now, for whatever reason.
Something needs to change now if the Red Sox actually want to contend this year, and that starts with a closer. The offense has been bad, but that seems likely to improve throughout the year. The best thing the organization can do is to give Garrett Whitlock the closing job, and maybe make some trades to solidify the bullpen. It looks like a longshot, but maybe just maybe the Red Sox could turn it around. Maybe.
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