Get Masterson in the Bullpen, Now!

Yesterday Justin Masterson delivered just what the Red Sox needed: relief. Well sort of. For a team that has been ravaged by the flu and already had to scratch Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka from scheduled starts, they badly needed some one to step in and give them quality innings, especially after spot David Pauley in a spot start and Jon Lester who pitched on three days rest failed to do so. Justin Masterson got the emergency call to jump up from Double A Portland to make his Major League debut and did so masterfully. The only problem was, the bullpen blew it.

Now normally I am one to preach patience with rookies and not spring to snap judgements based upon a couple of good games. But in this case, Masterson, who was optioned back to Portland after the game, needs to remain in Boston. But not as a starter, instead he should be kept in the bullpen. Start him out in middle relief to ease the transition to the Majors and then he should be ready to step into the set up role by mid season.

Some scouts and general managers already felt that Masterson would be capable of stepping into a relief role this season and making a significant contribution. Boston has been using him as a starter in the minors and obviously he did very well yesterday in his start against one of the stronger hitting lineups in the American League, giving up only 2 hits and 1 run in 6 innings. Masterson is not a power pitcher and his fastball is generally in the high 80's when he starts, but it is the wicked sinking movement on his fastball that is the key to his success. Yesterday 11 of his 18 outs came via the ground ball. When Masterson pitches out of the bullpen, he is capable of throwing that pitch in the 92-93 MPH range with the same movement. Many of those same scouts feel that Masterson’s future is as a reliever.

The Red Sox need help badly in a bullpen which, outside of Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, has been shaky at best and putrid at its worst. Manny Delcarmen, who was expected to step into Mike Timlin’s role as the top right handed set up man, has been awful, especially when it comes to inherited baserunners. Opposing hitters boast a .385 batting average against with runners in scoring position when facing Delcarmen. Javier Lopez has given up 6 walks already in only 9 and 1/3 innings pitchers, 5 of those to the lefties who he is usually brought on specifically to get out. Mike Timlin is doing better after a shaky return from the disabled list but still sports and ERA of 13.50. In fact, after Papelbon and Okajima, the only other reliever with an ERA under 4.00 is David Aardsma.

Clearly Boston needs help in the bullpen. It’s debatable whether or not Justin Masterson will someday be an effective Major League starter, but even if he is to become one, he will require a lot more minor league starts and would be nothing more than a September call up this year at best. Or he can be moved into the bullpen and almost certainly begin contributing to the team for much of this season. Given how unreliable Red Sox relievers have been so far this season, Boston needs to start looking for other options and they can start with Masterson.