It's time for some major changes in the bullpen.
John Farrell stepped just short of using the word "embarrassing" in describing the work of the Boston bullpen Tuesday night, but you got the point.
"You're looking for better" and "you're looking for more," and "rough night" were all just euphemisms. What Farrell was really saying was: "This is unacceptable," mixed in with "we've got to do something else."
Indeed, at this point, what sense does it make to keep running some of the same veteran arms out to the mound? Craig Breslow has been an effective lefthander in the past and is as solid at a citizen as could be imagined, from his charity work to his clubhouse presence.
But Breslow was overmatched Tuesday night, giving up a long three-run homer and two hard-hit doubles, as the Yankees pounded the ball all over the place.
Opposing hitters have an .830 OPS against Breslow. To put that into context, no Red Sox regular has an OPS above .801 (David Ortiz).
Alexi Ogando is no better. On the very first pitch he threw Tuesday night, he allowed a homer -- his 11th of the season and his sixth (!) in the last 10 games.
Robbie Ross Jr.? Righties are hitting .284 against him.
The problem, of course, is that there's little to turn to when it comes to replacements. The Sox could give another try to Noe Ramirez or Jonathan Aro, neither of whom has been effective in earlier callups.
But at least there's a chance that the younger arms could develop into useful middle relievers. And they couldn't possibly be any worse than the current crop of more established veteran relievers.
"They couldn't be any worse" isn't much of a rallying cry as the Red Sox attempt to navigate their way through the final third of the season. But it's all the Red Sox have at this point.
