Speier: Okajima has been more than OK in ’08
What’s behind bullpen door number three? Thus far in 2008, the Red Sox — despite entering last night tied for the best record in the American League — have yet to answer that question.
The middle innings have been a minefield. As such, reliever Hideki Okajima looms as a pivotal performer.
In 2007, Okajima was the first-half MVP of the Sox. His emergence from obscurity not only helped the Sox to lock down nearly every late-inning lead, but also allowed the club to regulate the usage of closer Jonathan Papelbon.
If anything, the 32-year-old is even more important this year. Manny Delcarmen (7.30 ERA) and Mike Timlin (12.79 ERA) — who were expected to join Okajima as key set-up men — have struggled desperately, and have been kept on a short leash due to their unreliable performances. That has left Okajima to assume an expanding workload. In four of his last six outings, the southpaw has entered the game with runners on base and been asked to clean up someone else’s mess. In three of those games, Okajima has been asked to record more than three outs.
The results thus far have been somewhat confusing. Okajima has allowed 72.7 percent (8 of 11) of his inherited runners to score, the worst percentage in baseball.
Yet opponents are hitting just .200 against the 2007 All-Star, and his 0.64 ERA suggests similar brilliance to what he exhibited last year. Accordingly, he remains a key weapon.
“He commands his pitches — I was going to say fastball, but it’s pitches — (so) that whether you’re a right-handed hitter or a left-handed hitter, he has so many ways of expanding the plate, changing eye levels, changing the timing,” said Sox manager Terry Francona. “He’s got a lot of ways to get both lefties and righties out.”
Okajima’s bag of tricks will be much needed, particularly in his second season. Much of the pitcher’s success is built upon what former teammate and current Tampa Bay Ray Eric Hinske described as “funkiness — he’s all elbows and knees, and his head’s going towards the dugout.”
With greater exposure, hitters will become more familiar with the pitcher’s unique mechanics. As such, his margin for error could diminish.
Yet if one judges by the terrible swings that opponents continue to take against his 89-mph fastball and split-finger change, that has not yet happened. The pitcher has not needed to make alterations thanks to location that Papelbon described as “second to none.”
“I try as hard as I can to perform at my best every year,” Okajima said through a translator. “But there’s really nothing that I’m doing differently this year (than in 2007).”
So long as Okajima’s performance remains unchanged from 2007, he will buy time for the Sox to find a third reliable bullpen performer. If the southpaw falters, then Boston’s smooth ride through the early paces of the season could face disruption.
Alex Speier is in his seventh season covering the Sox.
