As the Red Sox head into the playoffs, the bullpen picture is a mixed bag. The group has the kind of depth that can matter in October, but Boston is also carrying some real uncertainty into the Wild Card round.
Aroldis Chapman is dealing with a lat injury. Justin Slaten’s season is done.
Tyron Guerrero is back from the injured list, but without much of a ramp-up. And Erik Miller, who had been a reliable late-inning weapon, has run into a mechanical problem that has knocked him off his usual track of pounding the strike zone.
That has opened the door for Alec Gamboa, a name few would have expected to matter this much when the season began. The former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect has quietly put together an impressive rookie year for Boston, and he’s now the left-handed leverage arm the Red Sox have leaned on as Miller has faded late in the season.
Gamboa’s latest scoreless appearance came against the Cleveland Guardians on September 22, his fourth straight outing without allowing a run. That pushed his ERA down to 1.16. Across 31 innings, he’s also recorded a 1.06 WHIP, 22 strikeouts and 10 walks.
He doesn’t fit the exact mold Craig Breslow typically seems to prefer. Gamboa’s extension is below league average, and he doesn’t miss bats at the same rate as Miller. But he does something just as useful: he keeps hitters from doing damage.
That skill plays especially well for Boston. Gamboa is a ground-ball machine, with a 55.7 percent ground ball rate that sits near the top of the league.
Fenway Park can punish pitchers who live in the air, so a reliever who keeps the ball on the ground has real value there. He’s allowed only one home run all season, and the Red Sox defense has become one of the best in the league, which cuts down the danger even more on balls put in play.
The setup gets even more interesting in the playoffs, where Boston is lined up for a Wild Card rematch with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. That park is also among the most hitter-friendly in the league, and the Yankees remain one of baseball’s most dangerous home run teams even without Aaron Judge. Since Judge went out with a rib stress fracture, New York has hit 131 home runs since June 1, fifth-most in MLB.
That makes Gamboa a particularly useful weapon in this series. He’s been excellent lately too, carrying a 0.78 ERA over his last 15 appearances. With Boston’s bullpen dealing with injuries and uneven form, don’t be surprised if Gamboa gets handed at least one crucial moment in the Wild Card series.
In Other News...
Red Sox Suddenly Face A Huge Willson Contreras Playoff Concern
Willson Contreras right hand has become a late-week storyline for a Red Sox club that suddenly has to weigh its postseason plans around one of its most productive bats. The pain has lingered since he was hit by a pitch, and it has kept him from swinging in recent days, a development that immediately changes the tone around Bostons Wild Card Series preparations.
Contreras said he is unsure whether he will be able to play and made clear he intends to be straight with the team about where he stands. That matters because he leads the Red Sox in several offensive categories this season, and his presence would give Boston a much different look in a short series than his absence would. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Bats Just Raised An Awkward October Question
A night that was supposed to keep Boston in control of its October push instead turned into a reminder of how thin the margin can be when the bats go quiet. The Red Sox fell 1-0 to the Guardians at Fenway Park, with Angel Martnezs homer providing the only scoring in a game where Clevelands pitching staff, starting with opener Daniel Espino and including Joey Cantillo, smothered Boston all evening.
The bigger concern for the Red Sox was not just the loss, but how little they got going at the plate. Boston finished with only two hits, an ugly showing at a time when every game carries extra weight, and now has to move quickly into a split doubleheader against the Cubs the next day. After an outing like this, the question is less about one bad night than whether the offense can snap back fast enough to avoid making the standings even tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Garrett Crochet Just Gave The Red Sox Real Wild Card Hope
Garrett Crochet is giving the Red Sox a real reason to believe October could still get interesting, even as the final four games of the regular season unfold without him. Boston expects to learn more soon about the left-handers condition and whether he can be available for the playoffs, a development that matters a lot with a Wild Card series against the Yankees potentially on deck.
Crochet took an encouraging step by feeling good during his first intense live batting practice, a session the club moved to its spring training complex because of weather concerns. For a Red Sox team trying to line up its best arms for the postseason push, the next update on Crochet could loom large, because his status may end up shaping how confident Boston can feel about its chances when the games get bigger. [Read more 🡒]