Robbie Ross Has Become Boston Red Sox's Best Reliever

The biggest weakness that has plagued the Boston Red Sox almost all season long has been their ineffective bullpen. We all know about the starting rotation. However, the bullpen has been even worse and the fact that nothing was done to improve it this winter makes that flaw stand out even more.

At first, it seemed as though the only two decent relievers Boston had were Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. For most of the season that appeared to be true. Recently, another reliever has actually started pitching very well. Surprisingly, that has been Robbie Ross, Jr. It looks like for at least the moment, he is the last man coming out of the bullpen.

That doesn’t exactly make him the closer, but he has become a pitcher that apparently can be trusted in higher leverage situations. That could make him pretty useful next season as a late inning lefty who can come out of the bullpen and strike out a batter or two.  It appears as though his latest stint in Pawtucket has done him some good.

He appears to have developed a strong slider to go along with his fastball. Having those two out pitches make him very effective and if he can keep his wildness under control, Boston could potentially have something.

It would be very cool if he became a smaller version of Andrew Miller. He would be dominating out of the bullpen, but just wild enough to make a batter a little nervous. If he keeps on pitching like he has, he might be worth keeping around in 2016.

Carter Roane is a Boston Red Sox writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter@CarterGRoane, “Like”him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.