Diekman does the job in ninth
Fills a crucial role in needed victory for Sox
The Red Sox found a hero on Sunday night, and it made the entire weekend worth it.
Jake Diekman, a 35-year-old lefty who might’ve been an under-theradar signing during spring training, was the star of the show.
It was like pulling teeth watching the Sox figure out how their roster is going to work this weekend. They have a weird platoon in right field. They’re trying to figure out how many outs they can get from their starting pitchers. And it looks like they have no idea what they’re doing with their bullpen.
But on Sunday, manager Alex Cora found a way to make it all work. And with the heart of the Yankees’ lineup due up in the ninth, he found the hero he needed.
Diekman struck out three of the strongest home run hitters in baseball in Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo to close out the ninth inning of the Sox’ 4-3 win at Yankee Stadium.
Who is the Red Sox closer going to be this year? It’s been a question on everyone’s mind as Matt Barnes’ breakdown in the second half of last season and his concerningly-low velocity in spring training this year. It was then revealed on Friday that Barnes is also dealing with a physical ailment, a tight back, and could need to start the year on the injured list.
His natural backup, Garrett Whitlock, is being used in a newage relief role. He’ll throw multiinning outings and need extra rest between them.
Once Cora burned Whitlock in an Opening Day loss, it was anybody’s guess where he went with his bullpen from there.
Believe it or not, he made it work.
After giving up the game-winning hit to Josh Donaldson on Friday, rookie Kutter Crawford bounced back with two scoreless innings, striking out four to get the Red Sox to the seventh inning on Sunday.
Then Cora turned over to three guys who weren’t on the roster a month ago in Matt Strahm, Hansel Robles and Diekman for the seventh, eighth and ninth.
Together, they held the Yankees without a hit to ensure that Bobby Dalbec’s sixth-inning home run would be enough to get the Red Sox’ their first win of the season. In truth, it was a weird weekend. How unusual it was to see the Red Sox and Yankees start their seasons against one another, especially after the abbreviated spring training, and especially with very public, very uneasy contract negotiations going with both teams’ best players.
There was a lot of talk about what was going to happen to Xander Bogaerts and Aaron Judge, who will both be eligible for free agency after the season.
And people wondered what the Red Sox’ pitching staff would look like later in the year, when lefties Chris Sale and James Paxton return.
We wondered how Cora would navigate games with a bullpen full of guys who have had various levels of big league success, from none at all, to very little, to full careers spent as good-not-great options out of relief.
The strategy of building depth instead of going after top-end talent in the bullpen seems uncertain over the long haul, but Cora has done more with less and the ‘pen actually did quite well all weekend.
Ideally, we get to watch the Red Sox and Yankees play against each other when they’ve stretched out their pitchers, established some roles in the bullpen and are playing a sharper brand of baseball. They won’t meet again until July, which is probably for the best.
But they’re pretty evenly matched, as it looked this weekend.
Early season tests depth just like late season. Both teams used a full roster of players over the weekend, and all three games went down to the wire.
The Red Sox still have to figure out what they’re doing in right field, where Christian Arroyo made his first big league start on Sunday night but left as a lategame defensive replacement to Jackie Bradley Jr.
At least they can celebrate Cora’s bullpen management in a big win on Sunday.
For one night, they found a closer.