PLAYING TIME: Officially, Reed steps into closer role

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Reed now top Sox saves choice

Skipper Robin Ventura confirmed earlier this week something that had become obvious from recent usage patterns: that Addison Reed (RHP, CHW) was now the team's primary closer. After naming Héctor Santiago (LHP, CHW), then the infamous "committee" as the team's stopper over the first six-plus weeks, Ventura seems to have put his stamp on what skills-based analysts have been saying all along: Given his high strikeout rate (11.5 Dom) and good Cmd (2.4), Reed is the best Sox reliever to have at the end of the game.

That's not to say it's a once-and-done decision. Reed's BPV is only 84, and he showed on May 13 that he's not above implosion: 6 ER in one-third of an inning pitched. But...

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