One of the major areas of weakness for the 2022 Red Sox- and there were quite a few- was an inability to throw strikes. They ranked 20th in the majors with 526 walks, and fans who watched Hirokazu Sawamura, Jake Diekman and Austin Davis create their own personal merry-go-round on the bases know that that problem was especially bad in the bullpen. Only four ‘pens topped the Red Sox 268 free passes, and by the end of the season, John Schreiber was really the only reliever Alex Cora could bring in who could consistently throw strikes.
Fortunately, there is good reason to believe that the bullpen will attack the strike zone much more aggressively in 2023. Gone are many of the main culprits of the 2022 Walk-A-Thon, including Sawamura, Diekman and Davis, and their replacements have proven to be much more effective at throwing strikes. We already went over Kenley Jansen, but even his above-average control pales in comparison to fellow acquisition Chris Martin. Over his seven-year career, Martin has walked a remarkable 1.2 BB/9, and is somehow even getting better with age. His 0.8 BB/9 was the best in baseball last year, and somehow walked only one batted in 24.2 innings upon a midseason trade with the Cubs.
Unlike most control artists, Martin also generates tons of swing-and-misses. His strikeout rate ranked in the 94th percentile, while his whiff rate is also above-average. He relies heavily on a fastball-cutter-sinker combination, each of which actually increased in velocity 2022, and mixes in a splitter, slider and curveball to keep hitters honest. His fastball in particular is downright unhittable, holding batters to a .146 average and 30.1 whiff percentage.
I know I just threw a lot of numbers at you, but here’s the point: Chris Martin is a wizard. Most baseball evaluators would agree that the two most important skills a pitcher can have is an ability to generate strikeouts and an ability to limit walks, as both take luck and defense out of the equation, and Martin is among the league’s best at both of them. Yes, Martin is now 37, but he has been mostly healthy for the last five seasons, and his stuff has shown no signs of slowing down. Though Jansen will rightfully get most of the attention as the team’s closer, Martin will completely transform the Red Sox bullpen.
Stat Prediction: 2.67 ERA 62 IP 1.7 BB/9 10.9 K/9
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