Schreiber emerging as an intriguing option for bullpen
ATLANTA — Alex Cora has yet to truly find someone in the Red Sox bullpen he trusts to close games this season, amplified by a league-leading nine blown saves and six saves recorded by six different pitchers.
That makes the sudden emergence of John Schreiber all the more enticing.
Schreiber became the latest Red Sox pitcher to save a game in Tuesday night’s 9-4 victory over the Braves as he threw two shutout innings — which included backto-back strikeouts of Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson to clinch his first career save. It was the latest example of Cora’s growing confidence in the righthander who still has relative inexperience pitching in the majors.
The 28-year-old Schreiber — an under-the-radar waiver pickup by Chaim Bloom in 2021 — had a solid year with Worcester last season and has gotten some opportunity with the Red Sox early this season. He was called up when Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford were ineligible for last month’s series in
Toronto, and again brought up last week as a fill-in when Rich Hill tested positive for COVID-19.
Schreiber has made the most of his chances, entering Wednesday without giving up a run in 6 innings while striking out six and walking none. His fastball — which topped out at 94 mph on Tuesday and was up significantly more than his season average — is playing with his go-to slider for an effective combination.
Whitlock staying in rotation: The Red Sox still see Garrett Whitlock’s value being better as a starter rather than the ace reliever he started the season as. Whitlock will continue in the rotation and make a start next week.
It doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon even though Whitlock was dominant to start the season in the bullpen.
Sale’s recovery: Chris Sale has not yet resumed throwing after a personal medical issue paused his rehab, but he should be throwing again within days, according to a source. Sale is rehabbing from a stress fracture in his right rib cage that he suffered in the spring.