AL East 2017 Positional Rankings: Home to the Power Bullpens
By Nate Wardle
1. Boston Red Sox – Matt Barnes, Craig Kimbrel, Heath Hembree, Robby Scott, Joe Kelly, Fenando Abad, Brandon Workman, Blaine Boyer, Addison Reed, Ben Taylor, Austin Maddox
The Boston Red Sox claim the top spot here, and they deserve it. Craig Kimbrel was lights out, a 1.43 ERA in 67 games with 35 saves. He also was 5-0. Kelly also had a good season, with an ERA of 2.79 in 54 appearances. Only Boyer had an ERA over 4 of the Red Sox main relievers.
All of that helped the Red Sox bullpen got 29-15, the best winning percentage in the game of baseball. They had an ERA of 3.15, second-best in all of baseball to only Cleveland. The Red Sox had 39 saves total in 531 innings pitched.
And, it could have been even better. Carson Smith barely pitched, returning from injury very late in the season. He was supposed to be a setup man. Tyler Thornburg didn’t pitch, missing the entire year due to injury.
Next: Ranking the Starting Rotations in the AL East
The AL East has a stable of very good bullpens, but the Red Sox were the best of those in 2017.