Red Sox Are Nearly Unbeatable When They Do This One Thing originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Having a lead in Major League Baseball is literally more important than anything else. That's an obvious statement, but some teams blow leads far more than others.
While the Boston Red Sox had struggled for a lot of the season, it wasn't because their bullpen was one of the worst in baseball. In fact, the Red Sox bullpen has continued to be very good over the past year, and a lot of that is because of what Aroldis Chapman has done.
Beyond Chapman, there are others who have really stepped up in a big way from the bullpen. That includes right-hander Brayan Bello.
While many others have stepped up, one thing has been a constant for the Red Sox this season. When they're leading games after six innings, this team is almost unbeatable.
“The Red Sox are 49-5 when leading after six innings, 57-2 when leading after seven, and 61-1 when leading after eight. There’s a lot of pressure on the starters to perform, but when they do – like Tolle did Thursday – the Red Sox are usually in an ideal spot,” Trevor Hass wrote.
The Red Sox pretty much gave themselves the blueprint on what they need to do come playoff time.
They have to jump out to early leads and rely on their bullpen to get outs at a very high level.
This is also a starting-pitching stat, since those guys are part of how well they've pitched, especially in the second half of the season.