Alfredo Aceves' 2012 season began and ended miserably. With some controversial moments thrown in the middle, it's fair to wonder what his future holds.
It'd be easy to say the Red Sox should part ways with Aceves before taking the field in 2013, but the righty has at times proven he has good stuff. Red Sox manager John Farrell said during an interview with WEEI on Thursday that he isn't ready to make any drastic decision with Aceves, regardless of how last season went. Instead, the new skipper wants to see for himself what exactly is going on.
"I definitely plan on speaking with him," Farrell said of Aceves. "I would like to get a little more understanding of the history over the last two years. I can tell you from across the field this is a very, very good pitcher. He's got some abilities about him, particularly resilience and how often he can pitch and to the extent he can pitch. Those are the things you just don't find."
Aceves proved to be one of the Red Sox' bright spots in 2011, excelling despite the team's epic September collapse. The right-hander was able to pitch in a variety of roles while posting a 10-2 record with a 2.61 ERA that year.
As mentioned, 2012 wasn't so kind. Aceves frequently struggled while filling in as closer, and then bounced around the bullpen some more en route to a 2-10 record and a 5.36 ERA. The results obviously weren't there, and his apparent feud with former manager Bobby Valentine only amplified the struggles.
Still, Farrell is confident that Aceves could be able to return to his 2011 form, in which case the Sox might not be ready to let the 29-year-old walk away.
"Having a development background you're always going to look at a player and say, 'How can we or how can I have a positive impact?' Whether that's holding him accountable, or whether it's communicating consistently with him, those are the types of questions I'm interested in finding out about because you don't come across a guy like this on any sort of regularity," Farrell said. "Before any drastic decision is made on him I think we're going to exhaust every avenue as it relates to Alfredo."
Eventually, it could just be looking for answers that don't exist. But Farrell is already showing that he's not going to make any knee-jerk reactions based on things that happened last season.
