Feature on the Red Sox's middle relievers for the Berkshire Eagle (May 25, 2007)
Red Sox bullpen is intact
By Denis Gorman,
Special to The Eagle
Friday, May 25
NEW YORK--Maybe the person who can best understand what it is like to be a member of the 2007 Red Sox's bullpen is the late Billy Preston.
A friend of George Harrison's, Preston was noted for being "The Fifth Beatle," the man who kept the legendary band together in 1969 when divergent agendas threatened to break it up. Thanks to Preston bringing Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr together, the documentary "Let It Be" was made. As a way of thanking him, the band allowed him to play keyboard while they recorded Get Back, along with letting him play alongside them during their famous rooftop concert.
But history doesn't view Preston in the same light as Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr because the foursome were The Beatles. Preston was some guy who the band allowed to jam with them.
That is sort of what it's like to be a member of the Red Sox's bullpen not named Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. In his second season as a closer, Papelbon is challenging the Yankees' Mariano Rivera for the title of baseball's best. In 2006, the right-hander from Baton Rouge, La., posted a 4-2 record with 35 saves and a 0.92 ERA. This season, he already has 11 saves.
Okajima, in his first Major League season (he pitched for 11 seasons in the Japanese League), is baseball's premier set-up man. Batters are only hitting .154 off of the 31-year-old lefty from Kyoto, Japan.
Ignoring Wednesday night's 8-3 loss to the Yankees since neither pitched, the duo has combined for 13 saves in 15 opportunities, with an ERA of 1.15.
By any measure, Okajima and Papelbon have been good.
But two relievers, no matter how good, does not a bullpen make.
Middle relievers Kyle Snyder, J.C. Romero and Javier Lopez have been instrumental to the Red Sox's success this season, despite going unnoticed. The trio allows Bostson manager Terry Francona to mix-and-match pitchers in the later innings, dependent on matchups. Lopez and Romero get called on to face teams with strong left-handed batters—the Yankees, for example—while Snyder teams with Brendan Donnelly and Joel Pineiro to neutralize right-handed bats.
It's a blueprint for success. Statistically, the Red Sox boast the American League's best bullpen and MLB's second best, just behind San Diego. Going into the final game of the Yankee series, the Red Sox bullpen was 6-1 with 15 saves, a 2.94 ERA and striking out 93 batters. Opponents are only hitting .235 against the American East League leaders.
"Our job is to post zeroes late in the game and that's what we tend to do," Snyder said Wednesday afternoon.
Couple the deep bullpen with a starting rotation that routinely pitches into the seventh inning and it's no wonder that the Red Sox have won 31 of its first 45 games.
"It's great anytime when you can simplify (the game)," Lopez said. "Our starters have been going pretty deep into games and to be to able to get it to Okajima in the eighth and Papelbon in the ninth, and be able to mix in a couple outs; it makes the game easier, a nice recipe for success."
"This is as deep and as good as any team I've every played for," added Snyder.
In 39 2/3 innings, Romero, Snyder and Lopez have combined to post a 3-0 record with a save and an ERA of 2.27.
With reliever Mike Timlin and starters Jon Lester and Matt Clement due to rejoin the team sometime this season, what happens to the rotation and bullpen? Long reliever and spot-starter Julien Tavarez is almost certainly due to be moved back into the bullpen. Yes, the returns of Timlin, Lester and Clement will add depth, but there will be more pitchers than spots. Does that concern Romero, Snyder and Lopez?
Not a bit.
"The main goal is to win a World Series," Romero said.
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/sports/ci_5983035
By Denis Gorman,
Special to The Eagle
Friday, May 25
NEW YORK--Maybe the person who can best understand what it is like to be a member of the 2007 Red Sox's bullpen is the late Billy Preston.
A friend of George Harrison's, Preston was noted for being "The Fifth Beatle," the man who kept the legendary band together in 1969 when divergent agendas threatened to break it up. Thanks to Preston bringing Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr together, the documentary "Let It Be" was made. As a way of thanking him, the band allowed him to play keyboard while they recorded Get Back, along with letting him play alongside them during their famous rooftop concert.
But history doesn't view Preston in the same light as Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr because the foursome were The Beatles. Preston was some guy who the band allowed to jam with them.
That is sort of what it's like to be a member of the Red Sox's bullpen not named Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. In his second season as a closer, Papelbon is challenging the Yankees' Mariano Rivera for the title of baseball's best. In 2006, the right-hander from Baton Rouge, La., posted a 4-2 record with 35 saves and a 0.92 ERA. This season, he already has 11 saves.
Okajima, in his first Major League season (he pitched for 11 seasons in the Japanese League), is baseball's premier set-up man. Batters are only hitting .154 off of the 31-year-old lefty from Kyoto, Japan.
Ignoring Wednesday night's 8-3 loss to the Yankees since neither pitched, the duo has combined for 13 saves in 15 opportunities, with an ERA of 1.15.
By any measure, Okajima and Papelbon have been good.
But two relievers, no matter how good, does not a bullpen make.
Middle relievers Kyle Snyder, J.C. Romero and Javier Lopez have been instrumental to the Red Sox's success this season, despite going unnoticed. The trio allows Bostson manager Terry Francona to mix-and-match pitchers in the later innings, dependent on matchups. Lopez and Romero get called on to face teams with strong left-handed batters—the Yankees, for example—while Snyder teams with Brendan Donnelly and Joel Pineiro to neutralize right-handed bats.
It's a blueprint for success. Statistically, the Red Sox boast the American League's best bullpen and MLB's second best, just behind San Diego. Going into the final game of the Yankee series, the Red Sox bullpen was 6-1 with 15 saves, a 2.94 ERA and striking out 93 batters. Opponents are only hitting .235 against the American East League leaders.
"Our job is to post zeroes late in the game and that's what we tend to do," Snyder said Wednesday afternoon.
Couple the deep bullpen with a starting rotation that routinely pitches into the seventh inning and it's no wonder that the Red Sox have won 31 of its first 45 games.
"It's great anytime when you can simplify (the game)," Lopez said. "Our starters have been going pretty deep into games and to be to able to get it to Okajima in the eighth and Papelbon in the ninth, and be able to mix in a couple outs; it makes the game easier, a nice recipe for success."
"This is as deep and as good as any team I've every played for," added Snyder.
In 39 2/3 innings, Romero, Snyder and Lopez have combined to post a 3-0 record with a save and an ERA of 2.27.
With reliever Mike Timlin and starters Jon Lester and Matt Clement due to rejoin the team sometime this season, what happens to the rotation and bullpen? Long reliever and spot-starter Julien Tavarez is almost certainly due to be moved back into the bullpen. Yes, the returns of Timlin, Lester and Clement will add depth, but there will be more pitchers than spots. Does that concern Romero, Snyder and Lopez?
Not a bit.
"The main goal is to win a World Series," Romero said.
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/sports/ci_5983035
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 11:12 AM
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