Tazawa (shoulder) will likely be unavailable until after the All-Star break, per manager John Farrell, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports.

EDGE Analysis

Tazawa was held out of action Friday due to tightness in his shoulder, Farrell intimated that the Red Sox likely won't take any chances as the All-Star break approaches. Look for Tazawa to remain glued to the bench over the next two games, with the expectation that he'll be ready at the end of next week.

Tazawa was unavailable Friday due to shoulder tightness, the Boston Globe's Alex Speier reports.

EDGE Analysis

He apparently has been dealing with the tightness in his shoulder since his last appearance on July 3. Craig Kimbrel suffered a knee injury Friday, so the back of the Red Sox's bullpen will be very thin, at least in the short term. There is no MRI on tap yet for Tazawa, so he should be considered day-to-day.

Tazawa was charged with three runs on two hits -- both homers -- and a walk in one inning in Thursday night's loss to Baltimore. The right-hander has given up five runs in his last two appearance, spanning 1.1 innings.

EDGE Analysis

And just like that, a good season is blown up by two inferior outings. Tazawa, who entered the game with two on and two outs, was greeted by Manny Machado's three-run blast in the seventh. One inning later, he gave up a solo shot to Pedro Alvarez. He was working on four days rest and admitted to not executing, but he also mentioned that his velocity was down after getting up and down a few times during the Orioles series and not being used, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald.

Tazawa pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one, in Boston's win over Oakland on Tuesday.

EDGE Analysis

Tazawa has not allowed a run in 12 of his 14 appearances this season. He's a bedrock in the bullpen and can continue that as long as he's not used too much. He's shown a propensity to break down toward the end of seasons, which is why the return of Carson Smith from a forearm injury was so important for Tazawa's long-term value. With he, Smith and Koji Uehara juggling the high-leverage setup innings, the hope is that Tazawa can be good all season long.

Tazawa worked a perfect seventh inning Tuesday, striking out two batters in Boston's 6-2 win over Cleveland.

EDGE Analysis

Red Sox manager John Farrell couldn't have drawn it up any better than how it played out Tuesday. David Price went six strong innings in the cold, followed by perfection from Tazawa in the seventh, a perfect Koji Uehara (one strikeout) in the eighth, and new closer Craig Kimbrel (two strikeouts, one walk) to close the door. Tazawa will move to primarily a seventh-inning role in 2016 while Farrell looks to manage his usage. Tazawa, who has made the 10th most relief appearances since the beginning of 2013, has experienced a tired arm late in the season that last couple of years.

Tazawa earned a hold after pitching a scoreless inning with two walks on Thursday against the Twins.

EDGE Analysis

This was only Tazawa's sixth appearance through this spring training, but he has five strikeouts in five innings pitched. Tazawa will move from a setup role to more of a bullpen role this year with the addition of Craig Kimbrel at closer.

The Red Sox and Tazawa agreed to a one-year, $3.375 million contract in January of 2016, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

EDGE Analysis

For the third year in a row, the two sides came to an agreement, which coincide with Tazawa's amount of time holding down the role of setup man for the Red Sox. The 2015 season was a bumpy ride for the righty, though, as he compiled a 2-7 record, 4.14 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 56:13 K:BB in 58.2 innings.

Tazawa has been shut down for the rest of 2015 due to workload concerns, the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham reports.

EDGE Analysis

Tazawa sits at 58.2 innings on the season, which is less than he has thrown in each of the two previous seasons, but his performance of late does suggest that he is wearing down. The 29-year-old righty proved pretty convincingly that he is not cut out to handle the ninth inning after Koji Uehara went down, so he will be locked into mid-to-late inning complimentary role in the bullpen next season.

Tazawa, who allowed four runs in a third of an inning Friday night, attributed his poor outing to "missed location of my fastball," ESPN Boston reports.

EDGE Analysis

If his poor outing is the result of a mechanical issue, that can be fixed. If it's something more, say, fatigue brought on by a heavy workload over the past three years, then that's a different matter for Boston. Since the start of the 2013 season, Tazawa has made 215 appearances (including the 2013 playoffs). Since Aug. 1, he's allowed 14 runs on 24 hits in 13.2 innings.

Tazawa was torched for four runs on four hits while recording just one out in the eighth inning of an 8-4 loss to Tampa Bay on Friday night.

EDGE Analysis

Brought on to protect a 4-3 lead, Tazawa wasn't fooling anyone, and continues to struggle mightily since the Red Sox lost closer Koji Uehara for the season. He was initially named to take over for Uehara, but ineffectiveness made that a short term scenario, and he hasn't fared much better since returning to his usual set-up role.