Relief Ace Ogando

[Sprowl]

Ogando has the best stuff and the best velocity in the bullpen, and Farrell turns to him first when the starter tires and the game is close or tied. Against the Blue Jays, Ogando's location was outstanding: he worked the edges both high and low, and gave the batters nothing good to hit.
 

 
Ogando gets the high-leverage opportunities that Uehara got early in 2013, before injuries made him the closer. There's not much competition in the high-leverage category either: Breslow, Mujica, Varvaro and Ross haven't inspired confidence, so Ogando, Tazawa and Uehara have emerged as the real assets in the bullpen.

 

[Soxfan in Fla]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Would love to see Barnes get a real shot and one of the four you mentioned who aren't getting it done dumped. We need a 4th reliable high leverage arm in the pen before Tazawa gets Proctored. Koji's age also of course is a concern.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Would love to see Barnes get a real shot and one of the four you mentioned who aren't getting it done dumped. We need a 4th reliable high leverage arm in the pen before Tazawa gets Proctored. Koji's age also of course is a concern.

 
Also looking forward to seeing Escobar when he returns- he could be the trade deadline non-trade-for-a-bullpen-arm that helps pull the tired late season BP together.

 

[luckysox]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Would love to see Barnes get a real shot and one of the four you mentioned who aren't getting it done dumped. We need a 4th reliable high leverage arm in the pen before Tazawa gets Proctored. Koji's age also of course is a concern.

I am worried about Tazawa getting Proctored, too. The gap between the 3 good pitchers in the pen and the rest of them seems HUGE. Getting one more reliable arm in there, by hook or by crook, seems like a really, really important part of this season.  Maybe it's Barnes or another AAA arm, maybe it's someone from another team that the Sox need to trade for, but it's gotta be someone other than the eh guys they have out there now.  If the starters are going to be this unreliable, then you've got to be able to count more on the bullpen to keep this offense in the game. Mujica, Breslow, Ross and Vavaro inspire very little confidence when they jog in from the outfield. 

 

[Plympton91]

I think you've got to give Ross some more slack as the fourth guy out of the bullpen. In 2012 and 2013 as a full time reliever, he had SIERRA and FIP around 3.25, and xFIP around 3.50.