Brasier survived Sox remake of bullpen

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Ryan Brasier spent most of the 2021 season on the injured list, then followed that up with what was statistically the worst season of his career in 2022.

For a 35-year-old reliever, that can be a career killer.

But as the Red Sox remade their bullpen during the offseason, Brasier was one of the last men standing. The heavy hand of change never came down on his shoulder.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom looked beyond the surface stats and saw a pitcher who still throws strikes with high-end velocity. Brasier retained his spot on the roster, to the disbelief of many fans.

“I appreciate that they have confidence in me,” Brasier said Tuesday after a workout at Fenway South. “Hopefully I can build on what I did at the end of last year. I feel like I figured out a couple of things.”

Brasier allowed three runs on five hits over 12 innings in 13 games in September, striking out 13 and holding opponents to a .423 OPS. Ten of those appearances came against teams competing for playoff spots.

Yes, Brasier had an ugly 5.78 earned run average for the season. But how significant is that for a reliever? Take away his two worst games and that ERA is chopped to 4.52.

Statistics that measure the quality of contact by opposing hitters suggest Brasier pitched better than the results. But that’s not something he wants to lean on.

“That’s a hard question,” Brasier said. “Early on, sure, I was hit hard. But after that it seemed like some bad luck and it snowballed.”

Brasier feels his improvement in September was a product of better pitch sequencing and location rather than any mechanical adjustment. The staff studied his success from 2018-21 and adjusted how and when he used his pitches.

“We had a couple of meetings and searched for what works and I stuck to what I had success with,” he said. “Basically, how can I best attack hitters?”

The Sox prioritized strike throwers in their bullpen makeover, and Brasier is that. Even with the issues last season, he averaged 1.9 walks per nine innings against 9.2 strikeouts.

Ultimately, the stuff plays. Brasier averaged 96 miles per hour with his fastball and consistently located his 88-m.p.h. slider.

Add it all up and that’s why he’s still here and Matt Barnes isn’t. But Brasier, who is out of options, can’t afford a shaky start of the season. If necessary, the

Sox will eat his $2 million salary and move on.

It should help all of the relievers that the bullpen will have more structure this season with Kenley Jansen as the closer and the other relievers slotting into defined roles behind him, as opposed to the committee approach that failed last season.

“Hopefully we’ll have a smooth-running machine,” Brasier said. “Having a guy like that anchor the back end of the bullpen is massive. Getting a guy like Kenley, it’ll be like when we had Craig [Kimbrell] back there, a guy who can shut it down.”

Brasier joined the Sox midway through the 2018 season and quickly earned Alex Cora’s trust. His work in the postseason (8„ innings over nine games with one earned run) was impressive.

Brasier, Rafael Devers, and Chris Sale are the only members of that team still on the roster.

“It’s wild that there’s only a few of us left from when I got here,” Brasier said. “But that’s how the game works. I feel from a pitching standpoint we have a chance to be very good, even if not a lot of people think so.”

As to that, Brasier smartly avoids social media and isn’t aware that his spot on the roster has been a hot topic among a large subset of fans this winter.

He’s been too busy settling his family into a new home in Texas to worry about such things.

“People talk,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. I’ve learned that.”

Pitchers and catchers don’t have their first official workout until Feb. 15, but Brasier, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Sale, and Garrett Whitlock were all at the complex Tuesday working out.

Whitlock, who had hip surgery in September, ran sprints, played catch, and did a series of conditioning drills. He appears fully recovered, as does Houck after back surgery.

“I’ve seen Chris throw and he looks great,” Brasier said. “We’ve had a good group here early.”