Sox Drawer: Oki not O.K. when it comes to facing B-More

Hideki Okajima's mighty struggles against the Orioles highlight a deeper problem with the second year reliever.

I touched on this in my recap last night and the Globe had a piece on this puzzling situation today, but I think it needs to be explored a bit more thoroughly before we move on to Game 2 of this series.

What in the hell has happened to Hideki Okajima?

When he came to the Sox last year as a free agent from Japan it was more to be a buddy to Daisuke Matsuzaka than a dominant set up man. But a funny thing happened after he gave up a home run to Kansas City's John Buck on his first ever pitch in the major leagues - he went on to become a dominant set up man and an invaluable part of the Sox run to the World Series.

After that inauspicious debut Aki didn't allow another run until nearly two months later, and for the season he would wind up allowing 17 earned runs in 69 innings for a 2.22 ERA, compiling 27 holds and finishing 6th in the 2007 Rookie Of the Year voting.

It was as if the combination of his deceiving delivery and array of off speed pitches lulled the hitters of the league to sleep whenever he pitched.

But in 2008 those hitters have woken up.

Especially the Baltimore Oriole batters.

After last night's meltdown against the Birds Oki's ERA climbed from 1.95 to 2.89, but that leap isn't nearly as discomforting as his ghastly propensity for allowing inherited runners to score.

As the Globe article pointed out, but anyone following the team knows, Oki has allowed 11 of 14 inherited runners to score, and that alarming stat, more that ERA, is as telling a figure as any to the effectiveness of a middle reliever/set up man.

And no team has done more to damage Oki's effectiveness this season than Baltimore.

In five appearances against the Birds this season Oki has allowed 9 hits, 3 walks and 8 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Those numbers equate to a 13.50 ERA and a 6.60 WHIP, with the Baltimore hitters batting a robust .375 off the embattled lefty.

The one thing those starts don't take into account is the game-losing grand slam he allowed to Jay Payton at Camden Yards on May 14th, as only one of those runs was charged to him.

All of this turmoil has led to Hideki owning the most blown saves in the major leagues with 6, and while he still has 12 holds, good for 3rd in the AL, his penchant for allowing other people's runs to score and his inability to retire anyone in the Baltimore lineup is adding up to a very disappointing sophomore season.

Although his stuff still seems the same he hasn't been able to consistently throw strikes, and last night he threw a lot more curveballs than anything else, which led to his downfall. It seems to me that right now his problems are more mental than physical, but we know how one thing feeds the other until a situation gets out of hand.

As I said last night I'm sure that if the situation warrants it Tito will toss him right in there again tonight, or tomorrow, just so the guy can get his confidence back and get back to being an integral part of this bullpen.

But if he can't straighten things out against the Baltimores of the league, it's only a matter of time before other, quality teams start hammering him too.

Get well soon,Oki. We need ya.