“His numbers are sick,” Eckersley said. “That’s not normal.”

Uehara had 13 saves in 2010, none the next season and one last year. Yet after his 1-2-3 save Thursday, Uehara had converted 18 of 21 chances this season, with a 1.14 earned run average and a 26-inning scoreless streak. He has retired 76 of his last 83 batters.

Uehara said that plenty of other setup men could have similar success.

“I think it’s just that the opinion toward the setup guys is not high enough,” Uehara said through an interpreter. “But there is a pretty good group of guys that can pitch in the setup roles.”

The trick is to find the right ones. The smart organizations can do it. The St. Louis Cardinals have won two championships recently despite losing their season-opening closer both times. The San Francisco Giants won last year after replacing the injured Brian Wilson with his setup man, Sergio Romo, who filled in seamlessly.

Several teams that have signed expensive closers in free agency have not been rewarded. Francisco Rodriguez (3 years, $37 million) was not the cure-all the Mets expected. Heath Bell (three years, $27 million) fell apart with the Miami Marlins. Jonathan Papelbon (four years, $50 million) has been a one-inning hood ornament for a flawed Philadelphia Phillies team. Rafael Soriano (two years, $22 million) has six blown saves and has had a diminishing strikeout rate for the Washington Nationals.

What happened to the supposedly rare mind-set those pitchers had, that vaguely superhuman ability to handle the ninth inning? It sure seems like lots of others can perform just fine. To suggest that a setup man cannot deal with pressure is silly.

“You can find somebody to do it,” Eckersley said. “You could groom somebody to do it who’s on the staff, if you manage it the right way. I mean, think about it: the tougher job is to come in with guys on base, because he’s got to be quicker to the plate and he has to hold runners on.”

That is what the Red Sox did after losing Hanrahan and Bailey. They even contemplated using Junichi Tazawa before giving Uehara a chance, because they worried that Uehara, 38, could not pitch on consecutive days. As it turned out, Manager John Farrell said, Uehara thrives with regular work.