The Boston Red Sox made a pair of bullpen additions to start their post-lockout roster construction.
One of those moves was the signing of backend reliever Jake Diekman, who came into spring training with a very real chance of becoming the Red Sox closer.
Diekman is not off to the start many expected, as he currently has allowed seven earned runs in 3 2/3 innings of spring training.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora had a possible explanation for Diekman’s four appearances not going as planned.
“Cora pointed out (Sunday), the velocity on Red Sox reliever Jake Diekman’s slider has been down,” MassLive’s Christopher Smith tweeted. “It averaged 83.3 mph last year. In his past outing vs. the (Pittsburgh) Pirates, his 11 sliders averaged 78.4 mph.”
Last season Diekman posted a 3.86 ERA in 60 2/3 innings with the Oakland Athletics. At 35 years old, Red Sox fans will have to hope that the left-handed pitcher still has some juice left in the tank.
