Even under the best of circumstances, the Red Sox bullpen hasn't been much of a strength this season, especially in the second half.
Closer Matt Barnes, who was brilliant in the first and earned his first All-Star selection, fell off dramatically after the break. Josh Taylor, who had a scoreless streak that lasted nearly 10 weeks, came back to earth. Adam Ottavino encountered his own second-half struggles.
Then, toss in a COVID-outbreak that seemed to almost target the bullpen - a total of five players spent time on the COIVD-IL, including four relievers in the span of two days at the beginning -- and the bullpen looked shaky indeed.
But in winning their series at T-Mobile Park in the road trip finale Wednesday, 8-4, earning them a respectable 3-3 mark on the trip, it was the bullpen that often carried the team.
At a time when the offense has been spotty and the defense sometimes frightening, the bullpen has saved the Sox.
"Guys have been doing a good job collectively,'' said Ottavino, who contributed an inning and a third of scoreless work Wednesday and was credited with the win. "This road trip, I feel like, we're putting in some heavy innings and just trying to do our job, keep the games close and give ourselves a chance. The Seattle broadcast was talking about how (the Mariners) had the bullpen advantage in this series and I think, at least I did, I took it personally. So I'm glad we were able to be the difference the last two nights.''
With Barnes still working his way back from his COVID-IL stay -- he's expected to be activated Friday -- and heavy usage sometimes dictating availability on a nightly basis, there's a shapeless feel to the bullpen these days.
There's no designated closer, per see. It's more about matchups and who's fresh. And what it's not about, above all else, is ego, as Ottavino made clear.
Roles aren't very important right now. Results are the priority.
"I think earlier in the year, it was very structured,'' said Ottavino. "Barnes was closing and everything kind of fell in line there for a while. Then things went haywire. Ever since things haywire, everybody as a group has just kind of decided, whoever has the ball is the best guy and we're not going to worry about who's not here or who's taking rehab assignments or what have you. We're going to worry about the guys who are here and the guys who are here are going to get the job done. That's kind of what's been happening lately and we're all feeling good about it and we're all feeling strong heading into these last five series.''
On Wednesday, the tag-team, all-for-one approach couldn't have been more effective. Taylor cleaned up for the final two outs of the fifth when starter Tanner Houck was lifted. Next came Garrett Richards for two full scoreless innings. Then it was Austin Davis, Ottavino, and finally, Martin Perez. The only damage was an unearned run in the bottom of the 10th inning, long after the Sox had blown the game open in the top of the inning.
As the Sox return home, Barnes won't be the only one providing reinforcements. Thanks to four off-days in the next 12, the team can focus on maximizing starts from their Big Three of Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez, while utilizing Nick Pivetta and Houck as rovers -- not unlike the team's successful strategy from the 2018 postseason.
Bunched together with Toronto and the Yankees, with the Mariners and A's still in the picture, every pitch, every out, every inning takes on oversized importance. But as Ottavino sees it, that's not a bad thing. Experiencing these high-leverage spots night after night is good preparation for what the club could face in October.
"In the first half, we didn't have much adversity,'' he said. "I think it's important for a team to face adversity if they want to get all the way to the end - whether it's this year or in the future. Second half, we've faced a lot of (adversity) -- COVID, poor performance...just a lot of things. But we're kind of finding a way to battle through that. We can expect more of that from here on out. So at least, we've been conditioned a little bit.''