Carson Smith Activated From DL, Set To Stabilize Red Sox Bullpen
By Johnny Carey, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) --- Tazawa. Smith. Koji. Kimbrel. That's how the back end of the Red Sox bullpen was supposed to look after an offseason overhaul orchestrated by Dave Dombrowski.
On Tuesday night, Red Sox fans may finally get their first full glimpse of that potentially lethal late-innings combination, as Carson Smith has finally been cleared to make his regular season debut in Chicago.
After sustaining a flexor strain in March, Boston placed Smith on the 15-day DL so that the reliever could continue an extended spring training in Fort Myers.
Two scoreless, hitless, walkless rehab appearances in Portland later, and Smith has been deemed ready to go.
For a team that's already on a roll (8-2 in their last 10 games), Smith's presence will provide a huge boost.
Smith is an extremely rare type of pitcher in that he combines elite strikeout ability with the power to keep balls in play on the ground. Last season, he struck out 11.8 batters per nine innings, yet induced ground balls at a ridiculous 65 percent rate.
That was good for the 12th-highest K/9 among relievers, as well as the sixth-highest ground ball percentage. For context, no other reliever even finished in the top 20 of both of those categories last season. While Smith was right near the top of each statistic, strikeout and ground ball pitchers are not usually one and the same. He's the exception to the rule.
Smith's ability to combine strikeouts and groundouts has unsurprisingly seen him keep the ball in the ballpark, as he's only allowed two home runs over 78.1 career innings pitched.
To continue the barrage of impressive stats, Smith also posts a career 2.07 ERA, with a WHIP under 1.00. Opponents bat .183 against Smith, while righties have a woeful .166 average. The numbers just never end.
What makes Smith's addition to the bullpen most valuable, however, is that it gives John Farrell more viable options late in games.
Over the past few years, it's been a predictable late-inning combination for Farrell. If the game's close, you call Junichi Tazawa in the eighth and Koji Uehara in the ninth. His usage of Tazawa has been criticized over the past couple of years as excessive, especially considering the set-up man had to be shut down due to arm fatigue last season.
To his credit, Farrell hasn't managed that way so far this season. While the bullpen was called upon far more than expected, Farrell has allowed most of his pitchers sufficient rest, and instead of overusing Tazawa, he has given innings to younger arms who have stepped up, like Matt Barnes. With Smith in the fold, however, Farrell doesn't have to worry about that at all.
Guys like Barnes, Heath Hembree and Robbie Ross Jr. have pitched well, but it would not be ideal for them to be consistently called upon in big spots. Smith will take care of that role.
For now, however, Farrell has wisely pledged to be cautious and ease Smith back in.
"We've got to be mindful that Carson comes back to us with a limited rehab (stint), so we've got to be careful on his frequency of use," manager John Farrell said.
To Smith, his Red Sox debut has been a long time coming.
"It's felt like an eternity," Smith said, per the Boston Herald. "Sitting there watching the games on TV, just cheering my teammates on. That's all I could do down there in Florida. It was a part of it, just being patient and going through all the steps it takes to get back healthy. I'm ready to be back."
For the time being, the Red Sox will carry 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster in order to preserve Smith's arm. Just in case the bullpen needs to be called upon for extended innings over the next few days against a red-hot White Sox lineup, there will be plenty of arms to choose from.
Once it's clear to Farrell that Smith is back to full strength, however, the team will have a big decision to make. It probably isn't plausible to keep 13 pitchers on the roster throughout the entire season, so it's just a matter of time until one of the team's current relievers is no longer up in the big leagues.
The team could possibly send back down Hembree, although he has yet to allow an earned run for Boston. They could also choose to dump Tommy Layne, who hasn't proven reliable so far this year.
All we know now is that the bullpen will include Tazawa, Smith, Koji, and Kimbrel - and that's the way everyone from the fans, to Farrell, to Dombrowski, wants it.
It's time to sit back and enjoy what should be one of the strongest back-end bullpens in the major leagues.
Johnny Carey is a senior at Boston College. You can find him on Twitter@JohnnyCarey94.
