Papelbon on a hot streak
BOSTON -- The next time Jonathan Papelbon takes the mound for a save at Fenway Park, think about him singing, humming or clicking to himself.
Because if Fenway somehow managed to go completely silent, that's what's going on.
It's almost like he's a finely-tuned machine, humming along. Which is a good analogy because that's exactly what Papelbon does when he's on the mound. He literally hums.
"I do it when I'm in my motion because it's all about timing and I time it by humming, singing or clicking,'' he said. "Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Boom!
"It's like when I start my motion it's one click. When I go back with my body it's another click. When I go forward it's another. And then I explode out. I say or sing it to myself sometimes when I feel like I need it. It's, 'Click.' 'Click.' 'Click.' 'Wham!' I'm there right now. I just need to stay there.''
Papelbon has been in his groove for some time. In his last 16 outings entering Saturday's game, Papelbon has allowed just two runs on 12 hits and is a perfect 10 for 10 on saves over that span. He has 42 strikeouts in his last 30 games. No matter how you crunch the numbers, they're impressive.
"Typically, it comes down to when he has command of his fastball,'' pitching coach John Farrell said. "That's when everything else works so well. He gets extra life through the zone.''
It's a good thing for the Sox that Papelbon is cruising the way he is. Several others are ailing, but not the constant who sits in the bullpen every night waiting to finish games.
Papelbon is the Red Sox's career leader with 151 saves. He remains as steady as ever in his role as Boston's closer. And it's probably a good thing considering everything else going on around this club.
Consider what's happened to several Red Sox players in just the past two weeks or so:
And then there's Papelbon, who is on a tear. Opponents know it. The Sox's staff knows it and so does he.
"Oh yeah, I always know when I'm On because I can feel it,'' Papelbon said. "I know because my delivery is consistent. I have a consistent delivery with my fastball. I have a consistent delivery with my breaking ball. When my delivery's on time, everything's on time. My fastball mechanics makes everything work for me.''
It was long ago that Papelbon stopped taking for granted his saves. Sometimes pitchers enter with a cushy three-run lead and get what's considered an easy save. Papelbon is the first to insist, there's nothing easy about saving a game.
"There's a reason why it's called a save,'' he said. "You're preserving something. The last time I took a save for granted is the last time I took a save for granted. I hope that makes sense.''
Once Papelbon had become the Sox's everyday closer he went on a relative tear. This was back in 2006. But then on July 9 of that year, he entered with Boston clinging to a 3-2 lead against the Chicago White Sox. Papelbon retired the first two batters but then gave up a solo home run to Jermaine Dye. The Red Sox eventually lost the game in 19 innings.
"I learned the hard way,'' Papelbon said. "It's like your kid with a hot iron. You tell them don't touch it, but then they do and they never do again. It was the same for me with saves. I learned you have to treat each and every one of them very delicately.''
