The bridge: If you really want to nitpick, there is cause for concern in the back end of the Red Sox bullpen.
We all remember what happened to closer Jonathan Papelbon the last time he was on the mound in a meaningful game. And Pap's support system — the guys who get him the ball with a lead intact — showed its own cracks in the foundation late last year.
Hideki Okajima’s WHIP rose 0.49 and opponents hit 82 points higher against him in the second half. Right-handers, whom he faces more often than you think, hit .309 against him for the season.
Manny Delcarmen’s season went into the gutter amid shoulder issues, as the Hyde Park native posted a 7.27 ERA after the All-Star break.
Ramon Ramirez held opponents to a .199 average in the first half. In his final 32 games, they hit .270 against him.
The bridge, once fortified, had become unstable.
Enter Daniel Bard, who also experienced some second-half issues himself in 2009 but was just getting his feet wet. He figures to explode upon the eighth inning this season.
Bard has shown scintillating stuff in Fort Myers thus far. He has struck out seven and yielded two puny hits in five innings. Just knowing he has a defined role this time around has put him in a comfort zone, which could signal doom for American League hitters.
"I’m able to relax out there [this spring]," Bard said. “I never want to get too relaxed or too comfortable, but I’m able to focus on me and prepare myself for the season knowing where I’m going to be and really try to develop. … I know the staff has more confidence in me, knowing I have that spot."
That confidence in an eighth-inning man allows the Red Sox to pull back on the throttle with the other guys. They are auditioning a handful of arms that they hope can take pressure off Okajima by getting out left-handers.
Delcarmen has been eased back into things, and his perfect outing on Wednesday against the New York Mets was a small step forward. Do not forget how important he was to the group in the past. Between 2007 and 2008, Delcarmen had a 2.81 ERA while working 87 percent of his games in the seventh inning or later.
Theo Epstein came out looking pretty sharp in the Coco Crisp deal, when Ramirez was dominant early. His second-half slide and shaky spring training are a mild cause for concern, but he figures to be relied upon less if Delcarmen is back to his old self.
When Delcarmen fell off, Ramirez’s workload went up. He appeared in 25 1/3 innings during the last two months of the year after throwing just 18 1/3 in June and July combined.
As one issue is fixed, another becomes more manageable. And that’s how you build a bridge.
Let’s call it the Daniel Bard Memorial.
