''I do think Foulke deserves my confidence, because he has done it, and he's done it about as good as anybody in baseball," Francona said. ''I know the history of last year. But this isn't last year. What he can do is so good that if he comes out and gives up a home run and you just bail on him, we're losing somebody who can be so effective. We just need to try."
And so, Boston's 2006 bullpen, at least to begin the year, should look something like this: Foulke closing, Papelbon, Mike Timlin, Rudy Seánez, and Julián Tavárez working the seventh and eighth innings, and David Riske available to work the sixth. (Lenny DiNardo is likely to make the club, too, as a seventh reliever until April 12, when David Wells is expected to come off the disabled list and join the rotation.) On paper, it's dynamic, a night-and-day upgrade over what the Sox rolled out Opening Night in the Bronx last April.
Consider: The six men expected to constitute the relief corps, DiNardo not included, posted the following totals in 2005: 27-17, 3.21 ERA, 358 2/3 IP, 128 ER, 111 BBs, 306 K's, 35 HRs allowed. They fanned 7.68 batters per nine innings.
Boston's 2005 Opening Day bullpen (Foulke, Timlin, Alan Embree, Matt Mantei, Mike Myers, John Halama, and Blaine Neal), by comparison, posted the following totals in 2005: 20-21, 5.06 ERA, 329 1/3 IP, 185 ER, 118 BBs, 222 K's, 34 HRs allowed. They fanned 6.07 batters per nine innings.
The new additions (Seánez, Tavárez, and Riske) in 2005: 12-8, 3.05 ERA, 200 2/3 IP, 68 ER, 56 BBs, 179 K's, 21 HRs allowed. They fanned 8.03 batters per nine innings.
A year ago, the Sox bullpen was the worst in the American League, with a 5.15 ERA. This year, on paper, it stands to be among the best. But that statement ignores the results in Florida. Granted, results often don't matter here, but they are the only tangible basis for evaluation. And the reality is biting.
