We all knew it. Going into this season the bullpen looked like a surefire disaster and potentially a fatal flaw on an otherwise solid team. For the first week of the season the bullpen performed well, tricking many into the narrative of “Bloom knows what he’s doing; he’s done this in Tampa for years.” Well, those of us who doubted were right. This bullpen stinks. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.
The Red Sox bullpen currently ranks 25th out of 30 in fWAR. The unit also has the second worst barrel percentage allowed, behind only the lowly Cincinnati Reds at 9.