Farrell: Koji in the eighth, Tazawa in the ninth
Well, it didn't take long for details of the latest Boston bullpen re-org to hit the street. If you're chasing saves in fantasy (as most of us are, eternally), you'll want to go get the dude pictured over on the right, Junichi Tazawa. He's currently available in 80 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan checked out of Monday's game with an injury that doesn't sound minor, and Tazawa is the next man up.
Boston manager John Farrell offered these comments on Tuesday on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio:
"I think what we'd look to do is close Tazawa. We'd keep Koji [Uehara] in that eight inning role that he's been in."
Nothing vague about that quote. Tazawa it is. He's a hard-thrower (93-96) who perhaps fits the traditional closer profile better than Uehara. Tazawa's numbers have been absurd over the past two seasons: 58.1 IP, 8 BB, 63 Ks, 1.70 ERA, 0.96 WHIP.
Yup, that's right: Eight walks and 63 strikeouts. His stuff is solid. Just check the tape.
The Red Sox entered the season with a loaded 'pen, so they can probably survive the loss of both Andrew Bailey (DL, biceps) and Hanrahan, at least for a little while. Grab Tazawa where you can, gamers. And let's hope this team's closing gig isn't cursed.
