The Red Sox have reversed course and announced that Jonathan Papelbon will be their closer this season. Expected? Only partly. The Sox and Papelbon have been telling anyone who would listen that Papelbon's health would be better served by throwing every five days... suddenly, the medical concerns seem to have evaporated.
It's convenient that the medical concerns evaporated at about the same time as the trade market for relief pitchers. And right when the prospects for the rest of Boston's bullpen -- Mike Timlin, Julian Tavarez, Craig Hansen, etc., seemed bleakest.
The more plausible version of the story? Papelbon decided that he'd rather be an elite closer than a middle-of-the-rotation starter, and lobbied to get his old job back. Or, he saw the Sox strike out in attempts to land Brad Lidge and their much-reported hesitance to take on Chad Cordero and stepped up as a team-first guy. Either way, it's hard not to think that Boston's chances in the American League East haven't improved substantially with this announcement. The end of the Bosox' bullpen was the team's only question mark. Papelbon changes that question mark to an exclamation point.
For a more insider-ey take on the decision, check out 38 pitches, Curt Schilling's new blog.
Originally published at About Baseball
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