With most of the off-season focus on the
Chris Sale trade, it's easy to forget about
another significant pitching acquisition made by Red Sox President of Baseball Operations
Dave Dombrowski. On December 6th, Boston sent prospects
Mauricio Dubon and
Josh Pennington—along with
Travis Shaw—to
The Brew Crew for 28-year-old relief pitcher
Tyler Thornburg. In his five seasons with Milwaukee, Thornburg has gone 14-9 with a 2.87 ERA. Part of
last season he took on the closer's role and ended up 2016 going 8-5 with a 2.15 ERA—
and 13 saves. He gave up just 38 hits in 67 innings pitched—and had a WHIP of 0.940. He also struck out 90 batters on the year. So, along with the returning
Carson Smith (targeting mid-March for his first bullpen), Thornburg will offer some formidable set-up for closer
Craig Kimbrel.
