Talked to two scouts for today’s story in The Eagle-Tribune. One was from the National League and the other the American League, and both have been assigned to follow the Red Sox (among other teams) throughout spring training thus far. My question to them was in regards of their opinion concerning Boston’s closing situation. Both had basically identical viewpoints: That the Sox have a solid collection of sixth, seventh, and maybe eighth inning guys, but nobody they would classify as a reliable closer (other than Jonathan Papelbon, they pointed out).
Joel Pineiro was the one pitcher whom they thought might have a chance to emerge, but the concerns regarding the righty revolved around not so much his stuff, as how much of a transformation he is having to make in regards to mechanics, surroundings, and roles.
Tried to track down some up to date information in regards to the status of some of the relievers. Here it is:
Pineiro: Probably will start separating himself from the rest of the closer candidates if he continues his current path. Organization is extremely happy with his continued improved arm strength, which seems to have been a theme in Pineiro’s past spring trainings with the Mariners. His velocity is up slightly (touching 93 mph), and he is repeating his newly-revamped delivery on a much more regular basis.
Brendan Donnelly: The pitcher who clearly started the month stronger than any of the rest of the crew has leveled off a bit. But despite some bumps in the road, he is still right in the thick of things for the Opening Day closer’s role.
Julian Tavarez: One scout said they thought his stuff had diminished by a tick. Team is getting what it expected.
Kyle Snyder: You’re going to see a lot more of Snyder in shorter relief roles in the coming days. Even though he has a good strikeout rate, doesn’t walk many, and has successful first innings, the team isn’t ready to put him in the closer race because of its trepidation concerning his previously-oft-injured pitching arm bouncing back sufficiently. They will find out much more with each of the upcoming appearances.
J.C. Romero: Has been extremely encouraging this spring, and a big part of the success might have come as a result of his failure a year ago. Besides the slightly-altered mechanics (video of him last year to this spring will show a noticeable difference in his front leg approach), the experience of switching organizations has helped the adjustment. By some accounts, going to a new organization for the first time, last year, wasn’t an easy transition for Romero. This spring he has used the experience for an easier acclimation, along with motivation.
Hideki Okajima: He has gotten in trouble this spring when he has been up in the strike zone. The problem might be that pitches he was getting away with up there in Japan he isn’t against major league lineups. This is part of the challenge for Okajima, who also possesses a good to slightly above average change-up: He has to understand that mixing in his other pitches (besides the fastball and curve) will become a priority. It is a skill that will most likely have to be fine-tuned as he works his way through the season.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, even though pitchers like Snyder and Romero have pitched extremely well this spring, the closer competition hasn’t opened its doors to any newcomers.
Also, to answer a question from earlier today, the Red Sox (or their opposition) haven’t been affected by the new rule stating that a pitcher needs to get rid of the ball in 12 seconds (not 20) with nobody on base. In fact, the general consensus on the team is that the rule will rarely be an issue during the regular season.
