FanPost

The Red Sox Bullpen...is...uh...a bullpen?




The most infuriating part of baseball is pitching. Namely, BULLPEN pitching. Guys seem to be dominant and then just fall off of the face of the Earth. The guy you trust that can never make a mistake can blow it at any given moment. Likewise...who the heck is Bobby Poyner?! Sometimes players emerge from nowhere and have great seasons/careers/days. That being said, this Red Sox team has an interesting mix of talent in the pen. I'll give bullet points to touch on this since it's late on Friday and I don't feel like staring at the screen too much longer:

1. I don't care what happened to Carson Smith's arm or who's fault it is or anything else. He's a great piece for this team and now we're without him, for who knows how long. This sucks.

2. Joe Kelly is my hero. I have said this before. I will say it again.

3. Craig Kimbrel really brings some stability. It seems like an obvious statement but the best pitcher in the bullpen should be the closer. On many teams, that is not the case. For the Sox, however, Kimbrel is the ultimate stabilizing force and he is going to be awesome the rest of the season. Worth every trade piece we gave up.

4. Matt Barnes. Oh, Matt Barnes. At times he flashes this brilliant arm and other times he walks 45693729844 guys straight. I'll take him though, at least we know he's dangerous...to everyone.

5. Heath Hembree: thank PAPI he cut that hair. That is all.

6. Bobby Poyner has the chance to be a sneakily important arm for this team down the stretch. Hopefully he is as good as it seems he can be.

7. Tyler Thornburg might get healthy right when we need him. Unless the baseball gods have other ideas. They might. (see: Smith, Carson)

7. You know who I miss? Robbie Ross Jr. Man, I wish I could buy him a beer for all the good times he gave us.

That's all--I'm sure I missed something important but hey, have a good weekend and let's beat up on Baltimore. Gosawks!