Brandon Workman Is The Only Red Sox Bullpen Arm I Trust
The Red Sox bullpen this season has been well…terrible. It seems like whenever a bullpen arm comes into the game, we all have to hold our breaths. For as bad as the bullpen has been this season, there is one reliever that has been holding up his end of the bargain. That reliever is none other than Brandon Workman.
Workman and Ottavino
G 44 44
IP 41 41
K/9 12.6 12.3
BB/9 6.1 5.9
ERA 1.74 1.76
WAR 0.9 0.8— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) July 15, 2019
Let’s break these stats down for a second. Brandon Workman in 41 innings has a 1.74 ERA. Yeah, that’s pretty good I must say! Look at who he is being compared to as well. Adam Ottavino, reliever for the Yankees who the Red Sox were also interested in this past off-season. He’s basically averaging a strikeout an inning and keeping the walks at a respectable level.
Workman Keeps The Ball In The Ballpark
A lot of the trouble with the Red Sox pitching staff as a whole has been keeping the ball in the ballpark. Workman has not had that problem. In 44 appearances, Workman has given up 1 homerun this season. Yes, you read that right, just 1 homerun. Look at a guy like Chris Sale. He’s a strikeout pitcher, but has given up a lot of homeruns so far this season. Workman is similar in the sense that he is a strikeout type of pitcher, but he also avoids giving up the long ball.
In Conclusion
Is Brandon Workman the perfect reliever? No. But, is he somebody I trust on the mound? More than the average Red Sox reliever. Workman at least doesn’t give you as big of a heart attack as some of these other bullpen arms. Colton Brewer? Marcus Walden? Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier at times? They all make the hair on my arms stand up whenever I see them trotting out to the mound. But with Workman, he gives me a little bit of ease. Plus, imagine in an ideal world that the Red Sox starters go seven innings more often than not, and then you send Workman out for the 8th and Eovaldi in the 9th when he’s healthy? I’ll take my chances with that more often than not.
-Alan Nahigian (@BigAl2793)