Andrew Bailey - Is he back?
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| Photo Courtesy of CSNNE |
Conor Frederick
Contributing Writer
Andrew Bailey was apparently the bright spot in the collapse on Saturday. I'm going to take CSN New England's word on it - I was long asleep when the bullpen blew the lead and I only read about it after the fact. He ended the 7th with one pitch by getting Mike Trout to ground into a double play, then pitched a scoreless 8th, according to CSNNE. So, let's go to the question posed in the headline - is he back? He was pretty good at the beginning of the season, but he went through a stretch of blown saves and home runs in June. Last night, he might have turned a corner for the better after he got five outs without surrendering a run.
Personally, I'll need more convincing before I believe he's "back." With all the problems he's had in the last month or so, it will take more than one good performance to convince me (and most of Red Sox Nation, I'm sure) that he is a viable option at closer, or in any bullpen role. What's to stop him from losing what made him effective on Saturday and reverting back to the Bailey of June? Well, the people on the other side of this argument will say "Well, it only takes one good appearance to get his confidence back." Trust me, I want to believe them. Again, like I said earlier, I'll need a larger sample size before I get back on the Andrew Bailey Bandwagon. But I do want to get back on because I think that when he's on his game, he can close for us. He just hasn't been on his game recently.
Tweet me @ConorJF1016 with your thoughts or leave a comment below.
Contributing Writer
Andrew Bailey was apparently the bright spot in the collapse on Saturday. I'm going to take CSN New England's word on it - I was long asleep when the bullpen blew the lead and I only read about it after the fact. He ended the 7th with one pitch by getting Mike Trout to ground into a double play, then pitched a scoreless 8th, according to CSNNE. So, let's go to the question posed in the headline - is he back? He was pretty good at the beginning of the season, but he went through a stretch of blown saves and home runs in June. Last night, he might have turned a corner for the better after he got five outs without surrendering a run.
Personally, I'll need more convincing before I believe he's "back." With all the problems he's had in the last month or so, it will take more than one good performance to convince me (and most of Red Sox Nation, I'm sure) that he is a viable option at closer, or in any bullpen role. What's to stop him from losing what made him effective on Saturday and reverting back to the Bailey of June? Well, the people on the other side of this argument will say "Well, it only takes one good appearance to get his confidence back." Trust me, I want to believe them. Again, like I said earlier, I'll need a larger sample size before I get back on the Andrew Bailey Bandwagon. But I do want to get back on because I think that when he's on his game, he can close for us. He just hasn't been on his game recently.
Tweet me @ConorJF1016 with your thoughts or leave a comment below.
