Red Sox bullpen gassed-up for 2017

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Much like when comparing 2017’s projected starting rotation back to the troublesome 2015 staff, the 2017 Red Sox bullpen has a very different feel from pretty much every pen since Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard left town.

Not that it should simply be reliable because 2013’s combination of Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa and Craig Breslow was lock-down.

If you happen to sit in the bleachers at Fenway Park, you’ll get the gist of it when you hear the bullpen catcher’s mitt popping in the sixth or seventh inning.

What are we getting at?

This bullpen is loaded with pitchers who live in the mid-90s and above.

Just take a look at their average 2016 fastballs according to Brooks Baseball:

Craig Kimbrel, 98.

Tyler Thornburg, 95.

Matt Barnes, 98.

Joe Kelly, 97.

Robbie Ross Jr., 94.

“We got some arms, that’s for sure,” Kimbrel said of his fellow relievers. “We’re also gonna have a group of guys who works with the same stuff, so we’ll be able to help each other pick things out. That’s kind of part of the bullpen -- it doesn’t matter if one guys or two guys are good, we’re a core down there. And we can get into rhythms.”

“Think as long as we work together down there and help each other out, I think we’re going to have a pretty good team. We’ve got guys who through 95-plus, it’s gonna be from the sixth inning to the last inning. It’s looking pretty good.”

That list of relievers doesn't factor in Heath Hembree (95 average fastball), with Fernando Abad and Carson Smith being the only two who don’t sit 94-plus with their fastballs.

Only so many arms can make the major league team, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for this bullpen given the ups and downs it experienced last year.

After assessing the list, there are a few roles that should be a lock based on their past:

Kimbrel will close, obviously.

Barnes can now serve solely as the reliever that enters with runners on base, seldom a clean inning.

Ross can do that, as well, but also as the go-to lefty in the pen.

And the new guy, Thornburg, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers for Travis Shaw, is ready to take the setup role that Uehara and Tazawa struggled to hold down in 2016.

“We really like Tyler, he had a really good season last year [2.15 ERA, 13 saves, 220 K's in 219.2 innings, 12.1 K's per 9],” Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said of his new reliever. “He really came into his own last year. We look at him being our setup guy out there.”

And the ex-Brewers closer is embracing a role he’s familiar with.

“I loved that role when I was in Milwaukee and to do it at Fenway will be pretty cool,” Thornburg said. “Especially for a team with such high aspirations.”

Dombrowski also mentioned he expects Hembree, Kelly and Barnes to step up in 2017.

“We’re in a spot where there are some changes, but I think the guys will do a good job for us,” Dombrowski said.

The bullpen was the Detroit Tigers’ bugaboo when Dombrowski ran the show -- Sox fans were especially thankful for that in the 2013 ALCS  -- but it seems now Dombrowski’s loaded up to the point that even if a Kimbrel or Barnes falters, he has someone ready to take their place.

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