Heading into the 2011 season there were some questions about whether Brad Boxberger would take fully to his new role as a reliever after struggling to adjust to the role in the second half of the 2010 season. He posted an 8.49 ERA in Carolina last year during the second half of the year. He has a high strikeout rate, but his walk rate was also sitting at 14.8% was far too high.
The right hander began the season back with the Carolina Mudcats as their closer. During the month of April he didn’t rack up a save as the Mudcats struggled to even win games as a team, but he was dominant out of their bullpen. Boxberger didn’t allow an earned run until his final appearance of the month. He threw 11.7 innings on the month and had an ERA of 0.77 and a WHIP of 0.94 with 19 strikeouts and 7 walks. The walk rate was higher than you would like to see, but the rest of the numbers speak for themselves.
The month of May was more of the same for the new reliever. He grabbed two saves on the month for the Mudcats who were still struggling to win games, but he remained dominant over his 13.3 innings pitched. He posted a 2.06 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP in that time with 22 strikeouts and a much improved walk total of 3. The lowered walk rate showed the improvements he made during the month and he kept up an incredible strikeout rate.
June continued the dominance for Boxberger and even saw him earn a promotion to Louisville at the end of the month where he made one appearance. On the month he only saw 10 innings pitched, but he kept his low walk rate with just 3 walks on the month and one of them was an intentional walk to go along with 16 strikeouts. He saw his ERA on the month below 1.00 with a 0.90 mark and a 0.60 WHIP.
In July Boxberger was up with the Louisville Bats. With the move up, he also saw his numbers go up. For the month he threw 14.3 innings pitched while striking out 18 batters and walking 7. The rise in walks boosted his WHIP for the month to 1.19 and he saw his ERA jump up over 3.00 for the first time all season for a month with a 4.40 mark. The jump in walk rate was a step in the wrong direction against better competition, but the high strikeout rate was still good to see.
In August and September there was a rebound of sorts. The walk rate still remained higher than you would like to see, with 8 walks in 13 innings pitched. The rest of his numbers however were strong. Boxberger had 18 strikeouts in that time frame and posted a 1.08 WHIP to go along with a 1.39 ERA for the time period. He finished up the two months with Louisville with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.
Overall Thoughts
Brad Boxberger remains as the top relief prospect that the team has. His stuff is top notch with a 92-94 MPH fastball that can run up to 97 MPH to go along with a slider and a change up. His walk rate went up in AAA, which is a bit of a concern that should be kept a close eye on as more advanced hitters were able to lay off of his close pitches. Still, as far as internal options go, Boxberger remains the best option to become the Reds closer of the future if the Reds plans include Aroldis Chapman as a starter. I think he could head to spring training and turn enough heads to break camp with the big league club, but he may still need a month or two in AAA to hone in his control some as well.
Stats
| Year | Age | Tm | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | SO | WHIP | BB/9 | SO/9 | SO/BB |
| 2011 | 23 | Carolina | 1 | 2 | 1.31 | 4 | 34.1 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 57 | 0.85 | 10.0% | 43.8% | 4.4 |
| 2011 | 23 | Louisville | 1 | 2 | 2.93 | 7 | 27.2 | 16 | 2 | 15 | 36 | 1.12 | 13.3% | 31.9% | 2.4 |
| 2011 | 23 | Total | 2 | 4 | 2.03 | 11 | 62.0 | 32 | 4 | 28 | 93 | 0.97 | 11.5% | 38.3% | 3.3 |
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