5 relievers the Boston Red Sox need to target this trade season

The Boston Red Sox limped their way to the end of the first half after a 28-9 run that stretched from mid-May to late-June.

They currently sit outside of the playoff picture, but they’ve been marred by injuries to the starting rotation and they just finished playing 11 games against the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Red Sox, objectively, need to make upgrades to the starting rotation with Chris Sale going down once again, and they also need another big bat in the lineup like Josh Bell, C.J. Cron, or even (dare I say) the great Juan Soto if they can put together a package.

But there’s nothing more the need at this point than a reliable back-end of the bullpen arm. The Sox have blown the second-most saves in baseball this year of 20 (courtesy of Fox Sports).

There is a strong case to be made that if not for such a shaky bullpen, the Sox would be right there with the Yankees for first place right now. Yes, I said it.

They have a loaded lineup and their rotation has been surprisingly productive once again with the emergence of Michael Wacha and Nick Pivetta. What they need is a big-time reliever/closer and here are the pitchers I think they should be aggressive in going after as the trade deadline approaches.

Here are five relievers for the Boston Red Sox to target at the MLB trade deadline.

David Robertson

Robertson is one of the most underrated relievers in baseball this year. He’s pitching to a 1.93 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 37.1 innings with an expected ERA of 2.99, but the knock on him is that he’s simply not getting enough save chances in Chicago.

The Cubs cannot win games and now they have a closer revitalizing his career in David Robertson who is wasting away in the back end of their pen.

Robertson is 37-years-old and still getting more swings-and-misses than 90% of pitchers this year. His spin also remains off-the-charts as he’s able to rack up such a high strikeout and whiff rate sitting 93 mph with his leading pitch in the cutter.

Somebody needs to “Adopt-a-David-Robertson” and I’d love that team to be the Boston Red Sox who need a guy who’s going to be able to keep the ball out of play in the later innings as effectively as Robertson has this year.

David Bednar

Maybe a bit of a pipe dream as, from what I’ve heard on the streets, the Pirates aren’t very much interested in moving Bednar this season. They have a very young team in Pittsburgh that’s looking like a nice young core is starting to emerge with Bednar anchoring down that bullpen.

Perhaps they want to keep that nucleus together, but if they do decide to move the All-Star closer, I struggle to find many better targets for the Red Sox this trade season.

Bednar has 57 strikeouts this season in 43.2 innings of work with a 3.13 expected ERA in addition to his 16 saves. Not only has he been pretty lock-down this season closing out games, but he’s also shown the ability to work two or more innings in four of those 16 saves this year.

This year, 10 of his 38 appearances have been outings of over an inning. For a guy who throws as hard as he does and exerts as much energy as he exerts, the gas tank is beyond impressive. I think if you’re the Red Sox who’ve been having issue after issue this year holding leads, it’s a big upgrade to bring on a guy like Bednar who can work six-out saves for you as we move into the dog days of August.

Scott Barlow

Absolutely nobody is uttering a word about Scott Barlow … and they very well should be. Perhaps that’s better for the Red Sox if they want to pick up a more under-the-radar guy like Barlow.

The Royals closer has tallied 16 saves and struck out 25.4% of his batters this year.

He’s seen an uptick in spin, yet his velocity has dipped, which makes his success this season all the more impressive.

Barlow gets swing-and-misses, he gets chases, and despite a drop in velocity, he’s in the top 90% for both average exit velocity and hard hit percentage. The guy simply does not get hit, and the Royals, for as bad as they are this year, really have themselves a stud at the back end of their games.

I would be beyond thrilled to see my Red Sox make a move for a low-key reliever like Barlow. I actually feel like he’s the one I can trust the most on this list I’m spouting for you today.

He blew his first save on May 1, and since then he’s only blown one other. Barlow might be the best available reliever out there this trade season, and he’s such a good trade piece for the Royals who have a ton of young hard-throwers coming up as we speak.

(5) Daniel Bard

Finally, I’d very much enjoy seeing a Daniel Bard reunion. He’s paid his dues. He’s recovered from the yips. And now he’s racking up saves left and right in one of the most difficult ballparks to pitch at in Coors Field.

Bard has a 2.02 ERA this year with a 2.22 expected ERA, 20 saves, and 42 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched.

He came out of nowhere last year as a massive comeback story, and since then he’s done a great job at holding onto the reins of the closer’s job in Colorado while harboring some of the best spin in baseball.

The Red Sox obviously need a back-end guy desperately and Bard knows the team very well. The Rockies are also a team that looks like they will be sellers at the deadline. It just adds up too perfectly.

Under Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox are really developing a knack for not being aggressive in either going after players or re-signing them, so if this team is 100% serious about competing for a championship this season, they should wake up and get a solid reliever.