The World Series gets started up on Wednesday with game 1 and while many people are looking at the starting pitching matchup between Adam Wainwright and Jon Lester, the more interesting one could be the matchup at the end of the game, as closers Koji Uehara and Trevor Rosenthal will be getting the ball for each team.
The Boston Red Sox used their bullpen strength to help get them to the World Series, while Rosenthal was lights out as well during the League Championship Series and the championship could come down to whichever closer handles himself best in the series. Uehara won the ALCS MVP award and it came with good reason, as he was nearly unhittable against the Detroit Tigers and that has been a recurring theme for him all season, as he could even get some Cy Young consideration when it's all over (although Max Scherzer will win it with 21-wins this season).
The Boston bullpen has been the backbone of their playoff run and names like Junichi Tazawa and Craig Breslow have been stellar as they have moved along in the playoffs and the trio of those two and Uehara were one of the biggest reasons why the Red Sox were able to advance. The Red Sox took down the Tigers using those three and Uehara was the hammer at the end, as he has 13 strikeouts in the playoffs in just nine innings while also putting up a 1.00 ERA. He had issues in the past pitching in the postseason, but those demons are now gone, as the trio of those three pitchers for the Sox has helped the bullpen to a composite 0.84 ERA in the playoffs.
During the regular season, Uehara had a 1.09 ERA with 101 strikeouts and just nine earned runs overall and that gives him an advantage coming in, but the Cardinals have their own studs in the bullpen as well. Rosenthal has been nearly as lights out during the postseason, as he has not even allowed a run in that span and the fact that he can throw in the triple digits is a great advantage as well.
Rosenthal pitched the team into the World Series and over six games he has pitched seven innings and put up a zero ERA in those appearances and he has been very strong, as he is putting up a .136 batting average from opponents during the playoffs and during the season he was very impressive as well, pitching in 74 games and he was not the primary closer. The bullpen has more depth than the Red Sox and the young star is the key behind John Axford, Edward Mujica and Randy Choate and they all together have a less than 2.00 ERA in the playoffs.
The argument between Uehara and Rosenthal is very close with the way they have pitched in the postseason, but based on how well the Red Sox closer pitched during the year, the slight advantage will go to the Japanese star, although the Cardinals may have them beat on depth
