This dude just keeps coming back. There are three players remaining from the 2018 World Series championship team, and while Chris Sale and Rafael Devers and Matt Barnes are both former All-Stars who have served critical roles on the Red Sox for years, Ryan Brasier hasn’t so much be a key contributor to this era of Red Sox baseball as much as he has survived each year’s roster cutdown. Somehow, Brasier is about to enter his sixth year with the team, which is somehow the exact same time Mookie Betts spent in Boston. So for this player preview, we are going to try to answer one simple question: What do the Red Sox see in Ryan Brasier?
After extensive research, I am unable to draw a conclusion to that question. The Red Sox may point to his slider, which held batters to a .170 batting average in 2022, but that pitch is offset by an almost-comically hittable fastball. Batters obliterated the pitch to the tune of a .320 average and .602 slugging percentage last year. For context, Paul Goldschmidt won MVP last year with a .317 batting average and .587 slugging percentage last year. So, it doesn’t really matter how good your slider is if your fastball turns every hitter into MVP winner.
Another problem for Brasier is his absolute inability to get left-handers out. Opposite side hitters slashed .306/.350/.556 off him last year, and over his career, Brasier has allowed an .850 OPS to lefties. It makes sense why Brasier is so ineffective: He has only two pitches, with one being the aforementioned batting-practice fastball, and sliders are generally more effective breaking away from a hitter, as they do versus righties, than they are breaking in. Unfortunately for Brasier, lefties make up a not insignificant demographic of big-league hitters, and with the three-batter minimum still being in place, he’s going to have to face them at some point.
At this point, we should know better than to predict Brasier to be jettisoned during the 2023 season. He throws strikes, can touch the upper-90s in his fastball, and has a decent breaking ball. In other words, he’s the kind of reliever you can find at the local dollar store. Like every season before this, he’ll have some competent moments, some flashes of “hey, maybe he’s not so bad” and some absolute blow-ups. Hoping for 2023 to finally be the year Brasier puts it together is too much to ask: Let’s just hope he isn’t pitching too many meaningful innings.
Stat Predictions: 5.21 ERA 43 IP 2.7 BB/9 8.8 K/9
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