With the position players and designated hitters in the rearview, it’s time to focus on the pitching staffs within the American League East. In the latest installment of my positional rankings, I take a look at the bullpens in the AL East as I lead up to my annual predictions for the upcoming season.
Having a strong starting rotation and solid offense are essential in building a lead and winning ballgames. But that’s only part of it. With complete games becoming a rarity, the bullpen is essentially the backbone of a team.
Other Positions:
Catcher
First Base
Second Base
Third Base
Shortstop
Left Field
Centerfield
Right Field
Designated Hitter
Getting a lead is nice, but what does it matter if you can’t hold it? All you have to do is look at the record-setting contracts handed out to relievers this offseason to understand the importance that teams now place on back-end arms. The Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs made their World Series runs largely on the strength of their respective bullpens.
So as Mark Viviano seems to say on a nightly basis, “how’s your bullpen?” We’re about to find out.
Bullpens
1.) Baltimore Orioles
2016: 32-15, 3.40 ERA, 54 SV, 546 IP
2017 Projected Members: Zach Britton, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens, Donnie Hart, Logan Verrett, Vidal Nuno, Tyler Wilson
Any bullpen conversation regarding the Baltimore Orioles surely start with Zach Britton. The lefty closer had his 98-MPH sinker rated as the best pitch in baseball prior to the 2016 season, and then went out and threw it 92% of the time en route to an historic campaign. Britton was a perfect 47/47 in save opportunities in 2016, pitching to a Major League-record 0.54 ERA over 67 IP with a 0.84 WHIP.
The Orioles bullpen as a whole pitched to a 3.40 ERA, tops in the American League, and third in all of baseball. Thanks in large part to Britton, the Orioles save percentage of 79.41% was the best in the majors in 2016. Their 15 collective losses were the fewest of any team in baseball.
This season the team also returns All-Stars Brad Brach (10-4, 2.05 ERA, 79 IP, 1.04 WHIP) and Darren O’Day (3-1, 3.77 ERA, 31 IP, 1.23 WHIP). Though O’Day’s 2016 was injury plagued, the submariner is fully healthy to start 2017, which only makes this dominant bullpen that much better. As long as Brach, O’Day, and Britton are on this team, they should stay at the top of the division.
2.) New York Yankees
2016: 36-19, 3.67 ERA, 48 SV, 512.1 IP
2017 Projected Members: Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman, Tyler Clippard, Tommy Layne, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Chasen Shreve
Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. That’s all that really matters here. If the Yankees can get to these two behemoths, they’re tough to beat.
Betances, who stands 6’8″ and weighs 265 pounds, has recorded at least 73 IP in each of the last three seasons. His career 2.16 ERA is second-lowest on the team, though his 3.08 ERA in 2016 was the highest of any full season in his career, thanks to a terrible September in which he pitched to a 10.80 ERA.
Chapman is arguably the most intimidating closer in all of baseball, pumping fastballs by hitters at speed in excess of 103 MPH. Nicknamed “The Cuban Missile,” Chapman has pitched at least 54 innings and recorded at least 33 saves in each of the last five seasons. His career ERA of 2.08 is best on the team, and he has pitched to an ERA of 2.54 or less in six of his seven seasons at the big league level.
Added to the mix is veteran Tyler Clippard and his 2.95 career ERA, which should come in handy for a Yankees bullpen swarming with young talent. If Joe Girardi can manage it correctly–it is my opinion that he has over-used Betances–then the bullpen in New York should be a strength in 2017.
3. Boston Red Sox
2016: 25-27, 3.56 ERA, 43 SV, 470.1 IP
2017 Projected Members: Craig Kimbrel, Tyler Thornburg, Robbie Ross, Fernando Abad, Robby Scott, Carson Smith, Joe Kelly, Heath Hembree
Once upon a time, Craig Kimbrel was the best closer in baseball. Now he’s not even in the top two in his own division. Don’t get me wrong, Kimbrel is still a force to be reckoned with in that Boston bullpen, but a guy who once seemed unhittable has proven fallible over the past few seasons.
In his first season with the Red Sox, Kimbrel had an up and down year. On the one hand, he blew the fewest saves of his career, going 31/33 for the season. On the other hand, his 3.40 ERA was the highest of his career by a wide margin. Still, Kimbrel should be a key component for the Red Sox.
Aside from Kimbrel, the Red Sox feature some talented arms in Tyler Thornburg, Robbie Ross, Heath Hembree, and Fernando Abad.
Thornburg, acquired in an offseason trade with Milwaukee, emerged as a formidable arm last season for the Brewers, pitching to a 2.15 ERA in 67 games. The Red Sox are hoping for more of the same this season as they attempt to fill the holes left by the departures of Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, and Brad Ziegler.
Losing those arms hurts, and the fact that Carson Smith will begin the year on the DL does nothing to ease the pain. But, with the stellar rotation Boston should have this coming season, they should be able to whether the storm.
UPDATE: Tyler Thornburg was scratched from his scheduled appearance against Baltimore on Monday with muscle spasms in his trapezius and is likely to begin the season on the DL.
4. Toronto Blue Jays
2016: 23-32, 4.11 ERA, 43 SV, 464 IP
2017 Projected Members: Roberto Osuna, Jason Grilli, J.P. Howell, Joe Smith, Joe Biagini, Mike Bolsinger
One of the worst bullpens in the American League in 2016, the Blue Jays did little to improve their ‘pen for 2017. J.P. Howell and Joe Smith should be nice additions, and Roberto Osuna is a more-than-capable closer, but Jason Grilli is just old at this point in his career, and the rest of the unit leave much to be desired.
For a team that has made it to the ALCS in back-to-back seasons, you’d think they’d try to do more to complement the league’s best starting rotation from a year ago. The Blue Jays’ bullpen was their downfall in 2016, blowing 22 saves en route to 32 losses, the latter ranking second worst in the American League. Overall, the collective bullpen ERA of 4.11 ranked 12th in the AL, and despite the additions of Howell and Smith, they simply are not enough to warrant a higher ranking on this list.
5. Tampa Bay Rays
2016: 20-33, 4.09 ERA, 42 SV, 506.1 IP
2017 Projected Members: Alex Colome, Brad Boxberger, Xavier Cedeno, Danny Farquhar, Erasmo Ramirez, Ryan Garton, Shawn Tolleson
Since 2008, Tampa Bay has been known for solid pitching, using the numerous high draft picks they accrued from the previous ten seasons of futility to stockpile young arms and make the team relevant in a loaded American League East. Unfortunately, that talent hasn’t translated to the bullpen.
It’s not all bad in Tampa, though. Alex Colome is becoming an elite closer after a stellar 2016 campaign, and Brad Boxberger and Shawn Tolleson are proven commodities if they can stay healthy.
For Tolleson, the lone significant addition to the ‘pen this offseason, 2016 was a year marred by personal exhaustion (he had to leave the Rangers for a week to tend to his ill father), and ineffectiveness that can only be explained by a back injury that ended his season two months early.
Boxberger missed significant time in 2016 with core issues, has missed much of spring training with lat issues, and is expected to begin the year on the disabled list, a bad sign for one of the league’s worst bullpens in 2016.
The Rays bullpen allowed 73 home runs (second worst in the AL) while losing a league-worst 33 games in 2016. The 4.09 collective ERA ranked 11th in the AL, and the unit blew 18 saves, though Colome was a lone bright spot for the club. The fact is, the team did very little in the offseason to address this weakness, and unless Boxberger and Tolleson can return to form, the 2017 version won’t be much better.
That does it for the bullpens of the American League East. As always, these rankings are just one man’s opinion and are up for respectful debate. In the next installment, I rank the starting rotations within the division as we inch closer to my season preview.
