Relief pitcher Manny Delcarmen has become a confident and reliable set-up man for the Red Sox by learning to change speeds to make his fastball more effective.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

This was supposed to be the year that Manny Delcarmen finally matured into a dependable, hard-throwing set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon in the Boston Red Sox’ bullpen.

After the first month or so of the season, though, Delcarmen showed very little of that promise.

Delcarmen was lit up twice in Toronto in early April by Frank Thomas, once for a two-run double and the other time for a grand slam. And then, battling the sickness that infested the Sox’ clubhouse, Delcarmen faltered through the beginning of May to the tune of a woeful 7.30 earned-run average over his first 16 outings, totaling 12 1/3 innings.

Dependable set-up man? Hardly.

Since then, however, Delcarmen has been superb.

Over his last 16 games, the 26-year-old right-hander has permitted only two earned runs over 18 innings, for a dazzling ERA of 1.00. And while earned-run averages for relievers can be deceiving, it has been Delcarmen’s ability to work out of trouble without getting rattled that has given manager Terry Francona another dependable late-inning power arm out of his bullpen to go along with Papelbon.

The reason for the turnaround?

A few conversations, constructive conversations that, along with Delcarmen’s big-league stuff, have changed his fortunes and strengthened the Sox’ bullpen.

Talk may be cheap, but in Delcarmen’s case, a couple of hang-with-’em, you’ve-got-the-stuff chats with general manager Theo Epstein, Francona and captain/catcher Jason Varitek have gone a long way toward boosting the reliever’s confidence and leading to better results.

“About a month or six weeks ago, Tek [Varitek] sat down with me and told me my changeup was good but that I needed to start mixing in more curveballs,” said Delcarmen. “He said that would help me keep the hitters off-balance and I’d be able to throw the fastball by them.”

One case in point was Wednesday, in the finale of the three-game series in Philadelphia.

With runners on first and second and two outs, and Boston on top, 7-4, Delcarmen faced Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard. The former National League MVP already had 19 homers, including a pair in Monday night’s game.

Delcarmen’s first pitch was a changeup that was outside the strike zone. He dropped in a curveball for a strike. He threw a nasty breaking ball that dropped down to the dirt. Howard swung and missed that one, making the count 1-and-2.

Then, with breaking balls and offspeed stuff obviously on Howard’s mind, Delcarmen sizzled a 96-mph fastball over the outside corner. Howard was helpless against the pitch, flailing and missing it with a late swing for the clutch strikeout.

Howard is no stranger to strikeouts — he fanned four times Tuesday night — but it was the sequence of the pitches and the execution of them that was especially impressive.

“I’m just going with what Tek calls, and I’m throwing it to the spot,” said Delcarmen after his two innings of shutout relief helped Boston capture the rubber game of the series.

“If I’m missing, I’m missing my spot in a good area, not like early in the season when, if I missed, the ball was running across the plate,” said the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder.

It’s an interesting phenomenon with baseball players, or all athletes, probably. Confidence can come and go. Even the best players, the ones making a bazillion dollars, endure periods of self-doubt, when the results just aren’t what they used to be or are expected to be.

The issue becomes kind of a chicken-and-egg situation. What comes first, a good outing that renews the confidence? Or someone showing confidence in the player, boosting the player’s self-esteem and leading to those positive results that lead to more positive results?

“Tito keeps giving me the ball and putting me in those types of [key] situations and that gives me confidence,” said Delcarmen.

Francona said he has been impressed by Delcarmen.

“He’s commanding three pitches. He has matured,” said Francona. “When the game’s speeding up, he’s able to slow it down. He’s comfortable pitching in games like that now. He ran into some bumps in the road in Toronto and he got sick and went through a tough situation.

“But we talked to him about a month ago,” said Francona. “Theo was there, too. We told him to take a deep breath, that we’re going to rely on you to pitch and I think that helped, especially with Theo being there. We told him, we believe in you, so take a deep breath and reel yourself back in.”

Delcarmen has done just that, even if he hasn’t been perfect.

In Cincinnati, for instance, he gave up a first-pitch hit in a jam that shaved the Sox’ lead to a run and left runners at first and third with one out and Ken Griffey Jr. at the plate. And in Philly on Wednesday, he walked the first batter he faced, bringing the tying run to the plate with none out and ultimately leading to his confrontation with Howard.

In each case, though, Delcarmen was able to regroup and get out of trouble. After falling behind Griffey at 3-and-0, Delcarmen jammed the future Hall of Famer and got out of the inning on a double-play grounder. And then there was the strikeout of Howard.

“I feel like I’m on a roll right now,” said Delcarmen.

Which is a lot better feeling than he had in early May.

skrasner@projo.com