The Red Sox have just nine games left in the regular season before an all-but-inevitable trip to battle the Yankees in New York for the Wild Card game.
Boston’s magic number sits at three entering play on Friday, so the ballclub still has business to take care of to ensure a return to the postseason. With that said, literally everyone has spent a month preparing for a playoff rematch after the series loss in New York in August (and last October).
We’ve gone in depth about the lineup and what the rotation should be for the best-of-three clash. OverTheMonster’s Bob Osgood provided a well-detailed outlook of the bullpen you should also read.
Now is a great time to emphasize how each bullpen could decide the fate of the series, though let’s focus on why the Red Sox should LOVE their depth of relievers heading into The Bronx.
Personally, I believe the Red Sox have been at their best in the postseason when there’s a true closer to turn to in the ninth along with depth starters to jump into the Swiss army knife, multi-inning role to battleize the group. Well, Aroldis Chapman remains as good as any closer in baseball and if he’s ready to go by the end of his rehab stint, getting Tanner Houck for multiple innings (as they did in the 2021 postseason) is fairly massive for Boston.
Not to mention the steady work of elite setup man Garrett Whitlock and the ever-awaited return of Garrett Crochet. The Red Sox, however, will have to be very mindful of when to deploy him. There’s a real chance given the pace of his ramp-up that Crochet may only throw once – two innings at absolute most – for the entire series. Chad Tracy will have a real decision to make when to fire off his “secret” weapon.
Like every facet of the roster, the Red Sox should feel worlds better about the state of the roster heading into this postseason compared to last year. Especially if the bullpen looks something like this:
LHP: Aroldis Chapman
RHP: Garrett Whitlock
RHP: Tyron Guerrero
LHP: Erik Miller
RHP Greg Weissert
RHP Brayan Bello
LHP Garrett Crochet
RHP Tanner Houck
Given the rotation and bullpen firepower for Boston and New York, scoring really could be at a legitimate premium in the series. That’s pretty cliche when discussing playoff baseball, but the elite pitching on both sides cements that notion entering the likely seventh all-time playoff meeting between the Red Sox and Yankees.
Will the Red Sox bullpen ultimately decide the series? You tell us.
