Boston Red Sox expect Koji Uehara to begin season as closer
By David Miniel
The Boston Red Sox have a about four months before they defend their World Series crown.
They lost a couple pieces from their championship team but were able to keep a few and bring in some new faces. A new face that will help this team out in the long run is right handed reliever Edward Mujica.
Mujica, as we all know played for the St. Louis Cardinals last season but didn’t pitch against the Red Sox in the World Series. Signing Mujica gives this team some insurance when it comes to the closer’s role, which is held down by Koji Uehara.
At least that’s what the Boston Red Sox expect.
According to Scott Lauber on Twitter, the Red Sox expect Uehara to be the teams closer but love to have more than one on the roster.
Cherington, in conference call: #RedSox expect Uehara to be closer when season starts, but "love to have more than one closer on the team"
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) December 7, 2013
The 38 year old Japanese born reliever spent his first year with the Red Sox before spending some time with the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. He jumped to the states after the 2008 season but had his best season with the Red Sox.
Last year he recorded a career high 4-1 win/loss record, 101 strike outs, 21 saves, a 0.57 WHIP and 1.09 through 74.1 innings of work.
He continued his lights out performance when it mattered the most. In 13 games in the post-season, Uehara posted a 0.66 ERA, 0.51 WHIP, 16 strike outs and seven saves on 13.2 innings of work which included Game 6 of the World Series.
I don’t expect Mujica to take this job away from Uehara, but I’m positive he can lock it up for himself if the Japanese closer slips up.