I know what a relief ace is. I like the idea of it. However, I think you need 2-3 other high leverage guys in addition to the relief ace. A couple of examples are the Indians with Andrew Miller in 2017 and the Yankees last year with Dellin Betances. Those two teams could bring in those arms whenever they wanted to but also knew they had guys like Dan Otero and Cody Allen and in the Yankees case they had David Robertson, Zach Britton, and then Aroldis Chapman behind them to come in later in other high leverage situations. Hell, the Yankees had Adam Warren and Chad Green to come in as early as the 5th to shut down high leverage situations. In a close game, you may shut down the other team in the 6th or 7th, but there's a very good chance the same situation will pop up in the 8th or 9th and you better have others capable of doing what the relief ace did.@RedOctober3829
But the thing is, they think the highest leverage situation is a late inning scenario when the opponents have their best hitters coming up, not always the 9th inning.
This is the “relief ace” concept that many here on SoSH have long advocated as being the optimal bullpen strategy.
Maybe they wouldn’t do it if they had Kimbrel. But that’s irrelevant actually. When people say that the Sox just haven’t had anyone “claim” the “closer’s role”, it represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Red Sox are operating this season.
At the start of the season the Red Sox tabbed Barnes as the relief ace, but who was behind him? A lot of pitchers that Cora and management hoped would turn out good.