Porcello doesn’t let year grind him down
Credit Rick Porcello for giving an accurate description of his start in the Red Sox’ 5-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners yesterday at Fenway Park.
“Grind,” Porcello said when asked what he needed to do to minimize damage, which was limited to two runs, both earned, in 61⁄ innings. 3
Porcello mentioned the word again moments later, “to keep grinding, keep fighting away and keep looking to make pitches.”
Last year’s Cy Young Award winner did all those things, but the toil eventually took its toll — and that has become a hallmark for him this season. In 11 starts, Porcello has pitched seven innings just twice. Although Porcello received very little run support from his mates in several starts, he made it tougher on himself yesterday by allowing 11 hits and a walk.
With a 3-6 record and 4.21 ERA, Porcello knows he’s not where he wants to be.
“Quick-pitch outs have not been my strength,” he said. “So, with runners on base you’ve got to find a way. . . . You’ve got to make pitches in big situations and it was alright. For the most part, kept them off the board, but definitely would like to be a little bit more consistent early in the count and not give up as many hits as I did, allow that many baserunners.”
There were quite a few. He only had one perfect inning, the sixth, and there were four others where he allowed at least two batters to reach.
Porcello ran into the most trouble in the fourth, a microcosm of his afternoon. He only allowed one run, but threw 28 pitches, increasing his count from 43 to 71. He allowed a one-out double to Kyle Seager, a single to Danny Valencia, then threw a wild pitch that allowed the former to give the Mariners the only run they needed.
By the seventh, the pop from his arm was gone, as his velocity dropped and a Carlos Ruiz double and Ben Gamel single prompted manager John Farrell to yank him for Robby Scott. Two batters later, Heath Hembree allowed an infield single to Nelson Cruz that scored Ruiz.
“We saw an outstanding year from (Porcello) a year ago,” Farrell said. “You go back and you review the video from a start just taking place, many times it’s fastballs that are leaking back to the middle of the plate. (He) might not have as consistent a (sinker) that he typically will show.”
That’s not there yet. And as much as he’d like to fix it, Porcello knows he can’t tax himself mentally, either.
“You can’t go crazy and just completely magnify every single pitch,” he said. “You’re human and you’re going to go out there and make some mistakes.”
That mental grind can be avoided, but it remains to be seen if Porcello can overcome the one on the mound.