With the All-Star Break and the trade deadline approaching, the Red Sox need to make some decisions. Per Jeff Passan, he and many others believe that the Red Sox will be buyers given their remarkable ten-game winning streak before the break.
Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow has to make some hard decisions. Will he make an addition by subtraction and trade Jarren Duran? Or maybe dig into that fertile farm system of theirs and get a pitcher like Joe Ryan? Or both?
Greg Weissert Needs to Be Moved at the Trade Deadline
Well, there's a definite move the Red Sox need to make. Much to the dismay of Alex Cora (because he apparently loves him so much), Greg Weissert needs to go. He's a liability in that bullpen, and he's holding them back from their true potential. He can get one out in the inning, but afterwards, Weissert can't finish the inning.
The consequence of that is that if he's already got a few men on base, it'll ruin the other pitchers' confidence and cause them to give up runs (even if it's not them being accounted for). He's done that in most appearances this season, and it taxes the depth of the bullpen to the point where they have to bring in one, maybe two, to finish the game. It's a cycle, and Weissert is the liability.
His K/9 is at a 7.4 (the lowest of his career) and a FIP of 4.14, meaning it's being carried by fielding, and worse, the batters are making contact with the ball. That's a huge scare to have, especially when the batters nowadays are trained to crush anything in the zone that doesn't break. He's also tied for 2nd place in blown saves with 5. The only person higher than that is Tanner Scott with 6.
Weissert isn't going to get a good return, no matter when they try to get rid of him. A huge suggestion is to just pull the trigger now and prevent any more damage. Cora is seemingly trying to keep him alive by keeping his head above water. But he has yet to improve, and until he magically does so after the All-Star Break, he's already been dead in the water. The Greg Weissert experiment is over, and it's time to pull the trigger. Show mercy.