IN THIS SERIES, PAPELBON TRUMPS HALOS

Are you ready to face a sleep-deprived city? Because I have a feeling that the most important innings of the rest of this Red Sox-Angels ALDS won’t be played until the wee hours of the morning, East Coast time.

One game into the American League Division Series, the Red Sox and the Angels both find themselves with solid starting rotations and good offenses. Hence, we may see the difference in the rest of this series come down to the bullpens. That means the late innings — and the early hours of the morn.

Although the Red Sox bullpen is without fireballing Manny Delcarmen — who allowed three homers in seven appearances to close out the regular season anyway — they still have plenty of helping hands who can bring the heat. Jonathan Papelbon, Ramon Ramirez, Daniel Bard and Billy Wagner can all dial it up into at least the mid 90s. While Hideki Okajima puts butterflies (the bad kind) in my stomach, Takashi Saito had an ERA of 1.08 after the break. Paul Byrd gives the Sox a seasoned long-relief option.

The Halos’ bullpen is also getting a little help from a starter, with Ervin Santana joining the relief corps for the series. Santana didn’t have a great year, but threw a shutout on Sept. 28. But there is one question for the Angels: Is Brian Fuentes a trustworthy closer? The team itself seems to be clinging to his MLB-leading 48 saves as evidence that he is. But especially since the All-Star break, Fuentes has been shaky: In the second half, he’s logged more walks than strikeouts and has a 4.81 ERA. And those saves? Saves are always in the running for the coveted title of “baseball’s most meaningless stat.” Remember when Joe Borowski led the AL in saves in 2007 with an ERA over 5.00? And remember how he was DFA’d the very next year?

Fans of the Angels are worried about relievers Kevin Jepsen, Matt Palmer and Jason Bulger, who are all rookies. I don’t see inexperience as a legit concern, but I do think the Angels should be concerned about their bullpen’s performance against lefties.

In the past three ALDS between the teams, the Red Sox have outscored the Angels by a factor of more than 2-to-1: 62 runs to 29. And as Fangraphs.com noted, nearly a quarter of Boston’s runs were scored in the ninth inning or later. Even if the Sox are down in the late innings, the combination of Boston’s offense and L.A.’s bullpen should prevent any Sox fan from turning off the TV — even if you fall asleep on the couch.

– Sarah Green also writes for UmpBump.com. She can be reached at sarah@umpbump.com.

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