The Mets, Padres, A’s and Cubs all have one thing in common: they are the only teams with more blown saves than the Red Sox this season, who entered Tuesday’s game with 20. Boston has converted 52.38 percent of its save opportunities in 2019.
In case those numbers don’t make it abundantly clear — or you just turn the game off before any Red Sox relievers enter the fray — the bullpen has been a problem. Dave Dombrowski, however, doesn’t seem to think that’s the case.
While appearing on NESN’s “Red Sox First Pitch” before Tuesday’s game against the Royals, Dombrowski explained his stance.
“I have gone through the blown saves, and I know we’ve had a number of them, but really it hasn’t cost us as many games as what you would think throughout the year. Our bullpen basically has been fine,” he said. “And late in the game, (Brandon) Workman did a good job yesterday closing the game, (Nathan) Eovaldi gave up the home run, (Matt) Barnes, I think is a little bit tired probably right now after the number of pitches he had thrown, but all-in-all he has pitched very well for us all year.
“So when we get to that point with those guys, and then you fill in with the two young lefties (Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez) and (Marcus) Walden has done a good job in long relief, we have been fine. But really, our club, if we are going to thrive, and thrive well, it’s going to be because of our starting pitching.”
He may be a bit off about the bullpen, but Dombrowski is right about the team’s starting pitching. Red Sox starters have been as much of an issue throughout the majority of the season as the relievers — and may even be Boston’s primary problem at this point.