Wednesday’s Links – The Once And Future Team
Things will be different.
Category: Hideki Okajima
Wednesday’s Links – A Dream of Spring
We're almost there.
Red Sox Shake-Up Pitching Staff
With John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Junichi Tazawa, Dan Wheeler, and Bobby Jenks all on the disabled list, it was only…
Red Sox call up Okajima and return Doubront to Triple-A
photo © 2009 Keith Allison | more info (via: Wylio)After struggling a bit in the lefty role the Red Sox…
After Aceves scratched, Atchinson makes spot start
The Pawtucket Red Sox’ season opener Thursday night was notable not only for who played but also for who did…
State of the ‘Pen
Compounding issues is the news that the Sox may not be making any significant adds at the deadline. While not a white flag by any means, the team is firmly stuck in limbo -- not close enough to Tampa to make a deadline splash, but not far enough away to plan for 2011.
A quality seventh inning reliever would do wonders for the bullpen, giving the team a much stronger bridge through the late innings. In particular, a quality non-LOOGY left-hander would be optimal, but that move doesn’t seem to be in the works.
Nevertheless, it’s time we took stock of what we have. The following is a rundown of the top five hurlers in the pen, what they can do, and how they fit in with the pen’s structure...
As Usual the Red Sox Need Help in the Bullpen
Both Papelbon and Hideki Okajima’s production have been trending downward over the past few seasons. Okajima’s K/BB ratio has fallen each since he arrived in Boston. He is becoming more of a situational reliever.
Bullpen positives and negatives
Look on the bright side. When it comes to the Sox best relief pitchers, all are home grown.
Yet, outside of Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard and Manny Delcarmen there has not been a lot to like about the Sox bullpen this year. You probably had the feeling, as I did, heading into the season that the relief corps would be somewhat of a problem when the big decision heading out of Fort Myers was whether to carry Scott Schoeneweis or Scott Atchison.
Into the second week of June, the Sox bullpen has an ERA of 4.24. Compare that to the strong relief that a team like the Padres are getting (2.70 ERA) or or the Rays (3.23) and you see just how far off the pace Boston has fallen in an area that presumably was a strength coming into the season and was a relative strength last year (3.80 ERA).
Sounding the alarms from the pen
Our lefty specialist has already been called on to face left handers and while he has a career xFIP of 3.53, but if you try to stretch him his xFIP jumps to 5.19. This should limit his usage exclusively to lefty hitters and should not be used for any more than that.
All-Aughts Team of the Decade RP3: Hideki Okajima
Lost in all the hubbub back when Daisuke Matsuzaka was being posted was Boston's inking of left-handed reliever Hideki Okajima to a two-year deal with a club option. The signing flew rather under the radar given Okajima was a run-of-the-mill reliever in Japan and many felt the signing was to give Matsuzaka a caddy in Boston. (Fire Brand archive: What About Our Hideki? 2/20/07)
When Okajima came in Opening Day and gave up a home run to Royals catcher John Buck on his first pitch, things looked like they were taking a drastic turn for the worse. 19 scoreless appearances later, he finished with a 0.83 ERA in the first half. (Fire Brand archive: Okajima: Ability or Fortuity? 4/12/07.) He developed a changeup that took on a name called the Oki-Doki. (Fire Brand archive: Can Pitch FX track the Okie Dokie? 12/20/09.)