Uehara - Providing Much Needed Bullpen Support and Energy
Photo courtesy of Boston Globe |
How does one sum up Koji Uehara? The first word that comes to mind is passion. If you ever pay attention to him when he is in the dugout after he pitches, he is fired up. He is so amped when he returns to the dugout after a successful outing (which happens quite often), it is inspiring, even to me watching at home. First off, I love passion in players. If you're passionate about what you do, you earn my my respect. And Uehara is very passionate. Every successful team needs someone to pump up the team and wear their emotions on their sleeves so to speak and inspire the rest of the team, and Uehara is that guy for us.
But it's not just Uehara's passion that has me singing his praises. It's also his numbers. Let's take a look at his stat line, shall we? He has 26 K's against 4 walks in 17.2 innings, a total of 4 earned runs and 14 hits, according to ESPN. That's pretty pretty impressive. He's been crucial as a short reliever and set up man and he has allowed us to make a smooth transition to the closer, and that's big. He's almost comparable to Hideki Okajima in our 2007 squad, as Okajima served essentially the same role, and he was also very successful at what he did. Every successful team needs a good set up man, and that's why Uehara is important. He's a great set up man, and provides much needed passion and energy.
Any comments, let me know on Twitter, @ConorJF1016, or leave a comment below.
Conor Frederick
Contributing Writer
But it's not just Uehara's passion that has me singing his praises. It's also his numbers. Let's take a look at his stat line, shall we? He has 26 K's against 4 walks in 17.2 innings, a total of 4 earned runs and 14 hits, according to ESPN. That's pretty pretty impressive. He's been crucial as a short reliever and set up man and he has allowed us to make a smooth transition to the closer, and that's big. He's almost comparable to Hideki Okajima in our 2007 squad, as Okajima served essentially the same role, and he was also very successful at what he did. Every successful team needs a good set up man, and that's why Uehara is important. He's a great set up man, and provides much needed passion and energy.
Any comments, let me know on Twitter, @ConorJF1016, or leave a comment below.
Conor Frederick
Contributing Writer