Boof Bonser arrived in Fort Myers -- well, actually, he never really left Fort Myers -- with an eye on breaking into a Red Sox bullpen with space for just an arm like his. He's been a starting pitcher throughout his career but almost certainly won't be a starting pitcher with the Red Sox unless something goes terribly, terribly wrong.
His background as a starting pitcher, though, makes him a natural fit as a Justin Masterson-esque long reliever, a guy who can eat up three or four innings out of the bullpen in a lopsided game to preserve the bullpen for another day. The Red Sox even will stretch him out as a starter this spring so they'll have the option of using him for multiple innings once the season begins.
Here's the only problem: Terry Francona doesn't use long relievers.
Since his arrival in 2004, Francona has been less and less inclined to use relief pitchers for more than two innings at a time. When Brad Penny got shelled by the Cleveland Indians in late April, sent to the showers in the third inning, Francona used five relief pitchers to finish the game. Only Hunter Jones pitched more than one inning of relief, and even Jones was done after the fifth inning.
Granted, the Red Sox will tend to use long relievers less often because their pitchers tend to pitch deeper into games. A day Josh Beckett starts doesn't tend to be a day any relief pitcher needs to pitch more than one inning. But even comparing the Red Sox to the Yankees, another team that doesn't often need pitchers to do mop-up work, reveals a tendency to spread the workload out:
(For the sake of simplicity, a "long relief appearance" will be defined as a relief appearance lasting three innings or more. All statistics from Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index tool.)
2004
Average American League team: 16.5
Yankees long relief appearances: 16
Red Sox long relief appearances: 6
2005
Average American League team: 14.1
Red Sox long relief appearances: 9
Yankees long relief appearances: 9
2006
Average American League team: 15.1
Yankees long relief appearances: 13
Red Sox long relief appearances: 8
2007
Average American League team: 14.4
Yankees long relief appearances: 10
Red Sox long relief appearances: 3
2008
Yankees long relief appearances: 13
Average American League team: 11.8
Red Sox long relief appearances: 3
2009
Yankees long relief appearances: 19
Average American League team: 12.7
Red Sox long relief appearances: 5
In other words, Francona has asked a relief pitcher to go three or more innings less often in the last three years combined (11) than the average American League team did last season alone (12.7).
Even when he has a starting pitcher who doesn't eat up innings -- and Red Sox starters have failed to get out of the fifth inning at least 20 times in each of the last four seasons -- Francona has shown a tendency to use his relief pitchers in short stints rather than ask one or two guys to finish out the game.
Francona asked his relievers to get more than three outs in an appearance 162 times in 2005. That even was with a team whose starting pitchers averaged 6.2 innings per start, better than its starters have fared in any season since. A year later, that number had tumbled all the way down to 100. It hasn't been back above 125 yet.
Masterson, the quintessential long reliever, made only two relief appearances last season of three innings or longer:
* He relieved the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka in Oakland just a couple of weeks removed from spring training, pitching four full innings;
* He relieved Matsuzaka again in the starter's first game back from the disabled list, pitching three full innings.
That's it. Masterson made 25 relief appearances for the Red Sox before he was traded for Victor Martinez. Only two of those lasted three innings or more, and both of those were directly related to the health of Matsuzaka. Everything else was in short stints.
When a line drive knocked Jon Lester out of a game at Yankee Stadium in late September, Hunter Jones and Michael Bowden only pitched a combined 3 1/3 innings of relief before giving way to Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez. Bowden, don't forget, had spent the entire season as a starting pitcher -- but Francona only asked him to pitch 2 1/3 innings before he called for Delcarmen.
This isn't meant as a criticism. Francona certainly has earned the benefit of the doubt in his handling of his bullpen.
This simply is meant as a little perspective on what Bonser realistically is going to bring to the table for the Red Sox. The former Minnesota starter will have to earn a roster spot based on what he can do in one- or two-inning stints. His ability to eat up innings out of the bullpen might be a useful skill -- but it's not going to be put to much use in Boston.
Showing posts with label bonser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bonser. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Bullpen competition just gets deeper
It doesn't sound like Joe Nelson was in a position to be particularly choosy, but his phone interview with MLB.com certainly revealed an interesting sentiment.
"For me," he said, "(Boston) just looked like the best place to have a legitimate fighting chance in spring training. ... They're not bringing in a whole bunch of guys. They have the two spots they're really looking at. They have internal depth but not as much experience, and, for me, I had multiple teams making multiple offers, and they just seemed like the best fit."
The goal for Nelson appears to be to win the last spot in the bullpen, the spot vacated by Takashi Saito this winter. Saito tended not to pitch in many high-profile situations, making just seven appearances in what could be defined as save situations and facing almost two-thirds of hitters in situations that could be defined as low-leverage.
Any major-league job, though, is a coveted major-league job. The Red Sox appear to have candidates lined up for either one or two bullpen spots, depending upon what happens with Tim Wakefield. Scott Atchison, Boof Bonser, Ramon A. Ramirez, Dustin Richardson and Brian Shouse all figure to be in the mix with Nelson for the final one or two spots in the bullpen.
If Wakefield finds his way onto the Opening Day roster, only one of the above pitchers will join him. The winner probably will be the one who carves the best niche for himself.
Nelson? The journeyman righty, who made three appearances for the Red Sox in 2004, compiled a 2.00 ERA in 54 innings pitched for the Florida Marlins in 2008. His ERA jumped to 4.02 with Tampa Bay last season as his walk rate jumped (from 3.7 to 6.0 per nine innings) and his strikeout rate dropped (from 10.8 to 8.0 per nine innings).
Interestingly, Nelson has a reverse split: He actually tends to fare better against lefthanded hitters than he does against righties. Lefties have OPS'ed .668 against him in his career as compared to .776 for righties, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio last season was almost twice as good against lefties (1.77) as it was against righties (0.93).
In that way, he's a little bit like Manny Delcarmen. Having too much in common with a reliever already on the staff probably isn't good for his chances, as the Red Sox already have a couple of pitchers on staff who historically have had success against lefties. That niche already has been taken.
Several other candidates for the last spot have their own niches:
* Bonser used to be a starter and could fill the Justin Masterson swingman role, throwing hard out of the bullpen but making a spot start or two;
* Ramirez is almost untouchable (.388 career OPS) against righties, though the small sample size and a relatively low strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.5) means that number might be unsustainable;
* Richardson is a young lefty who misses bats at a Daniel Bard-esque rate and could grow into a complement for Bard before too long;
* Shouse is a one-hitter lefty in the mold of Mike Myers.
Nelson doesn't really have the type of distinguishing characteristic -- other than his "Vulcan" changeup -- that makes him a strong candidate to win that last spot.
He's right, though: It's all still up in the air. He'll have a legitimate fighting chance -- and with the way relievers come and go, even starting the season in Pawtucket would give him a chance to get to the major leagues before too long.
"For me," he said, "(Boston) just looked like the best place to have a legitimate fighting chance in spring training. ... They're not bringing in a whole bunch of guys. They have the two spots they're really looking at. They have internal depth but not as much experience, and, for me, I had multiple teams making multiple offers, and they just seemed like the best fit."
The goal for Nelson appears to be to win the last spot in the bullpen, the spot vacated by Takashi Saito this winter. Saito tended not to pitch in many high-profile situations, making just seven appearances in what could be defined as save situations and facing almost two-thirds of hitters in situations that could be defined as low-leverage.
Any major-league job, though, is a coveted major-league job. The Red Sox appear to have candidates lined up for either one or two bullpen spots, depending upon what happens with Tim Wakefield. Scott Atchison, Boof Bonser, Ramon A. Ramirez, Dustin Richardson and Brian Shouse all figure to be in the mix with Nelson for the final one or two spots in the bullpen.
If Wakefield finds his way onto the Opening Day roster, only one of the above pitchers will join him. The winner probably will be the one who carves the best niche for himself.
Nelson? The journeyman righty, who made three appearances for the Red Sox in 2004, compiled a 2.00 ERA in 54 innings pitched for the Florida Marlins in 2008. His ERA jumped to 4.02 with Tampa Bay last season as his walk rate jumped (from 3.7 to 6.0 per nine innings) and his strikeout rate dropped (from 10.8 to 8.0 per nine innings).
Interestingly, Nelson has a reverse split: He actually tends to fare better against lefthanded hitters than he does against righties. Lefties have OPS'ed .668 against him in his career as compared to .776 for righties, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio last season was almost twice as good against lefties (1.77) as it was against righties (0.93).
In that way, he's a little bit like Manny Delcarmen. Having too much in common with a reliever already on the staff probably isn't good for his chances, as the Red Sox already have a couple of pitchers on staff who historically have had success against lefties. That niche already has been taken.
Several other candidates for the last spot have their own niches:
* Bonser used to be a starter and could fill the Justin Masterson swingman role, throwing hard out of the bullpen but making a spot start or two;
* Ramirez is almost untouchable (.388 career OPS) against righties, though the small sample size and a relatively low strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.5) means that number might be unsustainable;
* Richardson is a young lefty who misses bats at a Daniel Bard-esque rate and could grow into a complement for Bard before too long;
* Shouse is a one-hitter lefty in the mold of Mike Myers.
Nelson doesn't really have the type of distinguishing characteristic -- other than his "Vulcan" changeup -- that makes him a strong candidate to win that last spot.
He's right, though: It's all still up in the air. He'll have a legitimate fighting chance -- and with the way relievers come and go, even starting the season in Pawtucket would give him a chance to get to the major leagues before too long.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Only "fine-tuning" left for Red Sox bullpen
For all of the ups and downs the Red Sox endured a year ago, the bullpen remained a virtual constant throughout. Sure, there were exceptions -- a miserable night in late June in Baltimore and an even worse afternoon in early October at Fenway Park come to mind -- but Terry Francona's bullpen tended to do its job as well as any in the American League.
Only the Oakland Athletics finished the season with a better bullpen ERA (3.54) than the Red Sox (3.80) -- though, to play devil's advocate, the Red Sox were a middle-of-the-pack team in the American League in walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) and strikeout-to-walk ratio as well as opponents' OPS.
Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner since have departed, both to the Atlanta Braves. Before you overstate the loss of Saito and Wagner, though, consider that the two combined to pitch 69 1/3 innings last season -- a tick less than the total Ramon Ramirez compiled by himself.
There certainly appears to be space to add another proven arm -- a Kiko Calero, for example, whose high strikeout rate might appeal to the Red Sox -- but general manager Theo Epstein said on Friday he doesn't see himself making anything but minor moves to fortify his bullpen.
"We're comfortable where we are," Epstein said. "There may be an opportunity to do some fine-tuning, to add a guy on a non-roster deal or a buy-low-type thing. We'll see what the market bears. But we're pretty comfortable with where we are. The first five guys are probably pretty obvious."
In case it's not obvious, those first five:
* Daniel Bard (R)
* Manny Delcarmen (R)
* Hideki Okajima (L)
* Jonathan Papelbon (R)
* Ramon Ramirez (R)
If the Red Sox go with a 12-man pitching staff, that leaves two spots to fill. One of those, barring an injury, might have to be devoted to a starting pitcher -- likely knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
"We have six starters, so if everybody is healthy, we may have to save a spot for one of the starters," Epstein said.
The last spot, the spot Saito filled for much of the season, remains up in the air. Veteran righty Scott Atchison signed a one-year contract to come back from Japan, and former starter Boof Bonser was acquired from Minnesota to see if his live arm could translate to the bullpen. Young lefty Dustin Richardson likewise could be a factor -- especially after recording more than a strikeout an inning in a season split between Double-A and Triple-A a year ago.
Michael Bowden can't be dismissed as an option, either. Bowden likely will open the season as a starting pitcher at Triple-A -- the No. 7 starter, if you will -- but might have a better future as a reliever than as a starter.
Bonser is a particularly intriguing option. Much like Justin Masterson over the past couple of seasons, Bonser could have the ability to pitch multiple innings either in a mop-up role or in a game that hasn't yet been decided. The righty missed all of last season with a torn labrum and rotator cuff, but the Twins already had begun converting him to the bullpen.
Bonser had a 5.88 ERA in 35 relief appearances in 2008, but that ERA belies an arm that struck out better than a hitter an inning and accumulated a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.44 -- numbers that compare favorably with any pitcher in the Red Sox bullpen.
(A BABIP of .374 in those 35 appearances didn't help him much.)
"He looked good in the bullpen in short stints when healthy," Epstein said. "He had significant surgery, but he checked out really well in our physical. We're excited to see him in the spring."
Only the Oakland Athletics finished the season with a better bullpen ERA (3.54) than the Red Sox (3.80) -- though, to play devil's advocate, the Red Sox were a middle-of-the-pack team in the American League in walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) and strikeout-to-walk ratio as well as opponents' OPS.
Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner since have departed, both to the Atlanta Braves. Before you overstate the loss of Saito and Wagner, though, consider that the two combined to pitch 69 1/3 innings last season -- a tick less than the total Ramon Ramirez compiled by himself.
There certainly appears to be space to add another proven arm -- a Kiko Calero, for example, whose high strikeout rate might appeal to the Red Sox -- but general manager Theo Epstein said on Friday he doesn't see himself making anything but minor moves to fortify his bullpen.
"We're comfortable where we are," Epstein said. "There may be an opportunity to do some fine-tuning, to add a guy on a non-roster deal or a buy-low-type thing. We'll see what the market bears. But we're pretty comfortable with where we are. The first five guys are probably pretty obvious."
In case it's not obvious, those first five:
* Daniel Bard (R)
* Manny Delcarmen (R)
* Hideki Okajima (L)
* Jonathan Papelbon (R)
* Ramon Ramirez (R)
If the Red Sox go with a 12-man pitching staff, that leaves two spots to fill. One of those, barring an injury, might have to be devoted to a starting pitcher -- likely knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
"We have six starters, so if everybody is healthy, we may have to save a spot for one of the starters," Epstein said.
The last spot, the spot Saito filled for much of the season, remains up in the air. Veteran righty Scott Atchison signed a one-year contract to come back from Japan, and former starter Boof Bonser was acquired from Minnesota to see if his live arm could translate to the bullpen. Young lefty Dustin Richardson likewise could be a factor -- especially after recording more than a strikeout an inning in a season split between Double-A and Triple-A a year ago.
Michael Bowden can't be dismissed as an option, either. Bowden likely will open the season as a starting pitcher at Triple-A -- the No. 7 starter, if you will -- but might have a better future as a reliever than as a starter.
Bonser is a particularly intriguing option. Much like Justin Masterson over the past couple of seasons, Bonser could have the ability to pitch multiple innings either in a mop-up role or in a game that hasn't yet been decided. The righty missed all of last season with a torn labrum and rotator cuff, but the Twins already had begun converting him to the bullpen.
Bonser had a 5.88 ERA in 35 relief appearances in 2008, but that ERA belies an arm that struck out better than a hitter an inning and accumulated a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.44 -- numbers that compare favorably with any pitcher in the Red Sox bullpen.
(A BABIP of .374 in those 35 appearances didn't help him much.)
"He looked good in the bullpen in short stints when healthy," Epstein said. "He had significant surgery, but he checked out really well in our physical. We're excited to see him in the spring."
Friday, December 11, 2009
Boof!
The resume of former Twins starter Boof Bonser is far from impressive. The pitcher the Twins acquired (along with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano) from the Giants for A.J. Pierzynski seems to have washed out as a starting pitcher, putting up a 5.88 ERA as a starter in 2008 before missing the entire 2009 season with a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff.
It's a low-risk pickup for the Red Sox, and he certainly would be a reasonable fit as the long reliever at the end of the bullpen. After the trade of Justin Masterson at the end of July, the Red Sox really didn't have anyone in their bullpen capable of taking over in the fifth inning and pitching the rest of the way.
Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez made 20 and 15 appearances, respectively, in games in which the Red Sox already led or trailed by four or more runs, and Hideki Okajima even made eight appearances in what could be considered a mop-up role. Takashi Saito spent most of the season as the team's designated mop-up reliever, but even Saito pitched more than one inning just six times all season.
Bonser has a career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.54 and has had quite a bit of success (.247/.296/.404) against righties, so he could be a nice fit at the back end of the Red Sox bullpen.
If he's not, well, he'll probably be released in spring training without having cost the Red Sox all that much money. He's arbitration-eligible this winter and will be awarded a salary somewhere in the $1 million range, but if the Red Sox cut him before the season begins, he'll be entitled only to 45 days' termination pay.
***
Just for fun: A couple of years ago, when I was working at the St. Cloud Times in central Minnesota, a coworker and I tackled a completely pointless project -- writing songs about Twins players to the tune of Beatles songs. Pitcher Nick Blackburn, whose name fits nicely into the tune of "Blackbird," inspired the project, but more than 30 followed after that.
Writing a Beatles parody about Bonser especially seems to fit given that his given name at birth actually was John Paul Bonser. He had it legally changed to Boof back in 2001.
Anyway, the below song is a bit outdated since the Red Sox likely see Bonser as a last-arm-in-the-bullpen type of guy rather than a starting pitcher. He also hasn't been as productive as he was expected to be when this song was written back two years ago.
But why should that stop us? Enjoy.
Boof (to the tune of "Help!")
Boof!
I need a starter!
Boof!
Not just any starter!
Boof!
You know I need six innings!
Booooooooof!
When he was younger, so much younger than today
He couldn’t seem to win and had a lousy ERA
And now those pounds are gone; he feels way more mature
Now he finds, his curve is fine, his wins are more assured
Boof, oh, yes he can keep the ball down
And he’ll get them all to hit it on the ground
Boof can keep the bullpen safe and sound
Won’t you please, please, Boof, please?
And now the staff has changed in, oh, so many ways
Johan Santana somehow vanished in the haze
But every now and then I see Mr. Bonser
I know that we just need him like we’ve never done before
Boof, oh, yes, you can strike them all out
And you’ll keep the Twins from losing in a rout
Boof, what did you do with all those pounds?
Won’t you please, please, Boof, please?
When he was younger, so much younger than today
He always thought he’d do his pitching out there by the Bay
But San Francisco thought they needed A.J. more
And now they find they’ve changed their mind, and runs they now can’t score
Boof, oh, yes he can keep the ball down
And he’ll get them all to hit it on the ground
Boof can keep the bullpen safe and sound
Won’t you please, please, Boof, please?
Boof, please?
Boof, please?
Ooooo
It's a low-risk pickup for the Red Sox, and he certainly would be a reasonable fit as the long reliever at the end of the bullpen. After the trade of Justin Masterson at the end of July, the Red Sox really didn't have anyone in their bullpen capable of taking over in the fifth inning and pitching the rest of the way.
Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez made 20 and 15 appearances, respectively, in games in which the Red Sox already led or trailed by four or more runs, and Hideki Okajima even made eight appearances in what could be considered a mop-up role. Takashi Saito spent most of the season as the team's designated mop-up reliever, but even Saito pitched more than one inning just six times all season.
Bonser has a career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.54 and has had quite a bit of success (.247/.296/.404) against righties, so he could be a nice fit at the back end of the Red Sox bullpen.
If he's not, well, he'll probably be released in spring training without having cost the Red Sox all that much money. He's arbitration-eligible this winter and will be awarded a salary somewhere in the $1 million range, but if the Red Sox cut him before the season begins, he'll be entitled only to 45 days' termination pay.
***
Just for fun: A couple of years ago, when I was working at the St. Cloud Times in central Minnesota, a coworker and I tackled a completely pointless project -- writing songs about Twins players to the tune of Beatles songs. Pitcher Nick Blackburn, whose name fits nicely into the tune of "Blackbird," inspired the project, but more than 30 followed after that.
Writing a Beatles parody about Bonser especially seems to fit given that his given name at birth actually was John Paul Bonser. He had it legally changed to Boof back in 2001.
Anyway, the below song is a bit outdated since the Red Sox likely see Bonser as a last-arm-in-the-bullpen type of guy rather than a starting pitcher. He also hasn't been as productive as he was expected to be when this song was written back two years ago.
But why should that stop us? Enjoy.
Boof (to the tune of "Help!")
Boof!
I need a starter!
Boof!
Not just any starter!
Boof!
You know I need six innings!
Booooooooof!
When he was younger, so much younger than today
He couldn’t seem to win and had a lousy ERA
And now those pounds are gone; he feels way more mature
Now he finds, his curve is fine, his wins are more assured
Boof, oh, yes he can keep the ball down
And he’ll get them all to hit it on the ground
Boof can keep the bullpen safe and sound
Won’t you please, please, Boof, please?
And now the staff has changed in, oh, so many ways
Johan Santana somehow vanished in the haze
But every now and then I see Mr. Bonser
I know that we just need him like we’ve never done before
Boof, oh, yes, you can strike them all out
And you’ll keep the Twins from losing in a rout
Boof, what did you do with all those pounds?
Won’t you please, please, Boof, please?
When he was younger, so much younger than today
He always thought he’d do his pitching out there by the Bay
But San Francisco thought they needed A.J. more
And now they find they’ve changed their mind, and runs they now can’t score
Boof, oh, yes he can keep the ball down
And he’ll get them all to hit it on the ground
Boof can keep the bullpen safe and sound
Won’t you please, please, Boof, please?
Boof, please?
Boof, please?
Ooooo
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