Even I wasn’t sure the Red Sox had it in them

I was worried the bullpen was going to combust before the Red Sox could make it to the World Series, but they proved me wrong and I’ve loved every second of it.

Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you I had an enormous amount of doubts and concerns when the Boston Red Sox entered the 2018 postseason.

They won 108 games this season and they displayed a very high-powered offense all year long, which made them appear almost invincible on paper. But as a Red Sox fan, watching probably 95 percent of the team’s games in 2018, I could tell that this team had major flaws, with none being bigger than the bullpen.

But amazingly, things clicked against the New York Yankees in the division series, and then they clicked even more so against the Houston Astros in the ALCS, and now the Red Sox are heading to the World Series. They defeated the Astros 4-1 in Game 5 at Minute Maid Park — due in large part to six shutout innings by David Price who finally conquered his playoff demons, as well as J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers each going deep off of Justin Verlander — to officially claim their first American League pennant in five years.

It was a pretty fun and incredible ride to get to this point.

Those 108 regular season victories were more than enough to win their third straight AL East title, but the vulnerability of the bullpen was on full display in the month of September. Regardless of who entered the game in the late innings — Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman — no lead was safe. It seemed like these relievers were giving up runs and blowing leads on just about a nightly basis, and that’s the not the formula for a pennant-winning team.

In the division series against the Yankees, facing deadly hitters like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and the rest of those Murderers’ Row 2.0 guys, the weakness of the Boston bullpen was my biggest fear. And in Game 1, my fears were justified as the bullpen nearly blew a 5-0 lead.

But after that first game, something crazy happened. All of a sudden, everything changed. Suddenly, those bullpen guys that I feared were going send our 2018 season to its disastrous doom started getting outs. And then they started getting more outs. And they were getting outs before they were giving up runs.

It was like a completely new team. Before I knew it, the Red Sox had eliminated the Yankees in four games, even celebrating on the field at Yankee Stadium in front of thousands of stunned New Yorkers.

And then not long after that, they were leading the defending world champion Astros three-games-to-one in the ALCS with a chance to close them out in just five games. Houston, who trounced the Sox in last year’s playoffs, is a completely loaded team from the pitching staff all the way through the lineup. They should’ve been Boston’s biggest test in this postseason, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit shocked that the Red Sox came back with four straight wins after dropping Game 1 at home.

But just like in the Yankees series, the bullpen guys came into the game and did their job, and the Red Sox hitters consistently delivered at the plate. Even Jackie Bradley Jr., who aggravated Boston fans all year long with his inconsistent hitting, smashed a pair of huge homers (one being a grand slam) to earn the ALCS MVP award.

The only real problem the Red Sox have had in this postseason is Craig Kimbrel, their normally dominant closer. Kimbrel (whom my friend accidentally called “Craig Kringle” during Game 5, which was the appropriate miswording ever) has struggled immensely to throw strikes ever since his first appearance against the Yankees in Game 1 of the division series. In four save situations, two against New York and two against Houston, Kimbrel allowed runs in each of them.

Until Game 5.

Manager Alex Cora, on his 43rd birthday, kept the faith in Kimbrel — something very few fans, myself included, were able to do — and he delivered in the ninth. He only allowed one base runner, a big improvement, before getting Tony Kemp to fly out to Andrew Benintendi in left field to end the series and wrap up the AL pennant.

I guess those 108 weren’t as deceiving as I originally thought. This Red Sox team is very, very good, and now they are just four wins away from winning the franchise’s ninth world championship. There were plenty of flaws coming into October, but those flaws have started to click and correct themselves at the perfect time.

Now that is the formula for a pennant-winning baseball team.

I wasn’t sure the Red Sox had it in them to make it to the World Series, but I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong.