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| BRANDON WORKMAN |
RED SOX : SPRING TRAINING 2014
March 15,2014.
C/O Jason Mastrodonato
@masslive.com
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Brandon Workman, aggressive and intense on the mound but typically friendly and laid back in the locker room, was having a pleasant conversation about the demands of going back and forth, from starter to reliever, before something irked him.
The horror stories of Joba Chamberlain and Daniel Bard's once-promising careers that took a turn for the worse have surely been told around many campfires smothered with baseball chatter. Bard, who was on pace to be one of the best relievers in Red Sox history, changed roles three times before his career fell apart. Chamberlain, who had a 0.38 ERA in first year as a reliever with the New York Yankees, was yanked back-and-forth between starter and reliever fives times.
Neither of them were better pitchers because of it.
Do you think about those two, a MassLive.com reporter asked Workman on Thursday? Does that concern you?
Workman cringed.
"I hadn't really thought about it until..." he said, then stopped himself. "That's something I'm not really thinking about."
And he shouldn't be.
Workman is 25 years old and his major league career appears ready to form some definition. He had a successful college career at the University of Texas and two strong minor league seasons as a starting pitcher. He was impressive in three starts when called upon with the Red Sox last season. He was much less impressive as a reliever.
Currently, Workman is getting stretched out as a starter. He threw three scoreless innings against the Minnesota Twins Thursday, striking out three. Things are looking good.
If only the Red Sox could figure out what to do with him.
With 17 days until the first regular season game, Workman's role is still undefined. There are five strong starting pitchers in front of him on the major league squad, but the Red Sox like him enough where they're considering using him out of the bullpen so he can start the year in the bigs. Or he could start out of the rotation in the minors.
Or he could be a swingman, going back-and-forth between the rotation and bullpen, in the majors.
Dizzy? This is hard to follow. And it's exactly what the Red Sox want to avoid.
"I think if you make the shift, than you stick to whatever shift you move to," manager John Farrell said. "But to go back and forth, that takes a lot out of a pitcher, regardless of age. You start to … in some ways, you can put a guy a little bit more at risk because it would change a role and a difference in routines. I think you’re asking a lot when you do that.
"He could pitch in either role for us but we would not want to switch back and forth with any regularity.”
Workman didn't love the idea last year -- a starting pitcher being moved to the bullpen can be perceived as Warren Buffett shifting to a role as bank-teller -- but he did what he was told and kept pitching the only way he knew how. It was a testament to his work ethic that he found himself on the mound in the eighth inning of Game 6 in the World Series. Despite the Red Sox's lead in the game, the magnitude of the moment signified Farrell's trust in Workman.
"He had never really relieved in his minor league career," Farrell said. "To have the physical abilities, in addition to the mental strength to change roles, to not be phased in that environment speaks to why we have a lot of trust and confidence in him."
So what will they do with Workman this year? Farrell still isn't sure. He knows Workman is a key part of the organization's future and has said he sees Workman as a starter, long-term. But he hasn't ruled out the possibility of using him as a reliever at points this season.
Workman is simply listening to what the team tells him and doing his job. He's started two spring training games and came out of relief once. He's being stretched out as a starter -- he was at about 60 pitches, as of Thursday -- though he could still be asked to start the year as a reliever.
He says he feels comfortable doing either. It's another testament to his maturity.
"It was a lot about mentally having myself prepared to pitch when I needed to be," he described the transition in 2013. "That was the biggest thing, having myself off the once-every-five-days-routine and having myself ready to go on consecutive days, or two-out-of-three, or whatever it may be.
"On the field, I feel like it’s pretty similar. I’ll be attacking hitters in either role. It’s between outings, the preparation that goes into it, that’s the biggest difference for me."
Tampa Bay Rays' manager Joe Maddon hates asking pitchers to go back-and-forth. The Rays have typically used their young starters as relievers late in the season, when Maddon is trying to monitor their innings and simply wants to get them some major league experience. It worked with David Price and Matt Moore, and they've thought about trying it with Alex Colome and Jake Odorizzi.
But once they find themselves in the big league rotation, Maddon typically doesn't believe in changing roles.
"I think primarily most teams don’t want to jack guys back and forth," Maddon said. "It’s really not good for their heads. And it’s a totally different preparation process too."
The Red Sox need to find a role for Workman and try to stick with it.
If they try to go back-and-forth with him as they did with Bard, they risk initiating the downfall of another promising young pitcher.
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