Red Sox closer Koji Uehara is out for the rest of the season with a fractured wrist, but manager John Farrell told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that Jean Machi, not Junichi Tazawa, will get first crack at ninth-inning duties.
Tazawa has been Uehara’s primary setup man and has a 3.25 ERA in 252 career innings, but Farrell indicated that he’d rather keep him in the same role.
Machi has all of three career saves, was claimed off waivers from the Giants last month, and has allowed four runs in four appearances for the Red Sox, so turning to him as the new closer is … well, let’s just say surprising.
Uehara is signed for $9 million next season, so the job figures to be his again heading into 2016.
-- NBC's Hardball Talk