One area that has generally been very good for the Sox has been the bullpen. Here are the top 5 guys in the pen:
Uehara: 19.2 ip, 0.92 era, 0.92 whip, 13.3 k/9
Badenhop: 29.2 ip, 2.12 era, 1.38 whip, 4.6 k/9, been incredible since his first four appearances
Capuano: 27.0 ip, 2.00 era, 1.11 whip, 8.3 k/9
Miller: 23.0 ip, 2.74 era, 1.04 whip, 13.7 k/9
Tazawa: 22.1 ip, 2.42 era, 1.16 whip, 8.1 k/9
That's an incredible job by those five guys. The rest of the pen is more of a struggle:
Breslow: 16.1 ip, 5.51 era, 1.84 whip, 7.2 k/9 (though before his meltdown on Sunday his #'s were: 2.87 era, 1.53 whip, 7.5 k/9)
Mujica: 19.0 ip, 6.63 era, 1.53 whip, 5.7 k/9
I expect both of these guys to be better. They have a 7-10 record, which is worse than their actual performance should indicate. Ironically, both Breslow and Mujica are 2-1, despite being the two worst regular relievers. The rest of the pen is 5-9.
Despite Breslow and Mujica, the Sox' pen has the 7th best ERA in MLB, at 2.94. And they have the 2nd highest save percentage at 80.0%.
So they're really doing a great job, for the most part. I like having three lefties and four righties. Well, actually, I'd prefer a six-man bullpen, but if they're going to have seven guys in there, then this is a good combo. Mixture of good K guys and ground ball guys. Generally they have very good control of the strike zone as well.
Of all the crappy things that the Sox have put out there this year, the bullpen generally has been a very big bright spot.
Uehara: 19.2 ip, 0.92 era, 0.92 whip, 13.3 k/9
Badenhop: 29.2 ip, 2.12 era, 1.38 whip, 4.6 k/9, been incredible since his first four appearances
Capuano: 27.0 ip, 2.00 era, 1.11 whip, 8.3 k/9
Miller: 23.0 ip, 2.74 era, 1.04 whip, 13.7 k/9
Tazawa: 22.1 ip, 2.42 era, 1.16 whip, 8.1 k/9
That's an incredible job by those five guys. The rest of the pen is more of a struggle:
Breslow: 16.1 ip, 5.51 era, 1.84 whip, 7.2 k/9 (though before his meltdown on Sunday his #'s were: 2.87 era, 1.53 whip, 7.5 k/9)
Mujica: 19.0 ip, 6.63 era, 1.53 whip, 5.7 k/9
I expect both of these guys to be better. They have a 7-10 record, which is worse than their actual performance should indicate. Ironically, both Breslow and Mujica are 2-1, despite being the two worst regular relievers. The rest of the pen is 5-9.
Despite Breslow and Mujica, the Sox' pen has the 7th best ERA in MLB, at 2.94. And they have the 2nd highest save percentage at 80.0%.
So they're really doing a great job, for the most part. I like having three lefties and four righties. Well, actually, I'd prefer a six-man bullpen, but if they're going to have seven guys in there, then this is a good combo. Mixture of good K guys and ground ball guys. Generally they have very good control of the strike zone as well.
Of all the crappy things that the Sox have put out there this year, the bullpen generally has been a very big bright spot.