Boston Red Sox reliever John Schreiber is the ace in the bullpen

The Boston Red Sox bullpen struggled mightily during the 2022 season. With 28 blown saves in 65 opportunities, the Boston pen needed reinforcements.

Red Sox Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom made sure to address this need during the offseason.

Bloom found his closer after inking Kenley Jansen to a 2-year/$32 million deal. Jansen led the National League with 41 saves in 2022 as a member of the Atlanta Braves. Boston’s entire pitching staff recorded 39 saves last season without a single pitcher recording double-digit saves.

The additions did not end with Jansen, as veteran right-hander Chris Martin signed a 2-year/$17 million contract to bolster the bullpen. Martin will likely step into the eighth-inning role, which will give manager Alex Cora a steady one-two punch to closeout games.

Even with these additions, Boston’s most impactful reliever will likely not have many save opportunities.

Red Sox reliever John Schreiber will strand runners on base

John Schreiber positioned himself as Cora’s most trusted reliever with runners on base in 2022. Schreiber inherited the second-most baserunners last season with 45. Only 14 of those runners scored, which illustrates Schreiber’s strength in high-leverage situations considering the amount of traffic he had on the bases.

When facing runners in scoring position, Schreiber held hitters to a .203/.274/.297 slash line. The 28-year-old righty also excelled with two outs, as he struck out 33 batters while only allowing five walks. Whenever the Red Sox get into a jam in those crucial middle innings, Cora will call upon Schreiber to keep the score intact.

Red Sox fans should expect more of the same dominance from Schreiber in 2023. Schreiber attributed his success last season to following the offseason workout program of three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer.

"“Scherzer takes one or two weeks off and then gets going,” he said, via Inside the Monster Podcast. “ Last season that’s kind of what I did and saw some success coming to spring training and that’s kind of what I’m doing this offseason.”"

With a similar offseason workout, Schreiber will build on his 2022 success and establish himself as the most important reliever in the Red Sox bullpen.