Porcello still not at Cy-level best
BALTIMORE — Rick Porcello understands as well as everyone else that he’s not pitching at his best right now, and not close to the quality of his Cy Young campaign of a year ago.
It’s not that he is pitching terribly, but last night’s 3-2 loss, his seventh on the season against only three wins, told a similar story to other losses. A couple of bad pitches at the wrong time spell doom, especially on a night when the Red Sox offense is held in check.
That’s how it’s going for Porcello this season.
“I’m not far off. I definitely feel good about some of the stuff I’m doing,” said Porcello, who has an ERA of 4.24. “It’s kind of every start, I’m grinding through it, decent ballgames. It’s not at the level I expect myself to pitch at and I need to be pitching at for our ballclub.
“It’s not bad, it’s not good, it’s just kind of grinding and fighting through each start. Need to be sharper and need to turn it around quick.”
Porcello needs to start off sharper, too.
Last night, he allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, Seth Smith, and then two batters later Manny Machado launched a shot into the upper deck in right field.
After that, Porcello settled down, allowing just three hits and one run over his next five innings, but the Sox could not climb out of that early hole.
“Felt better as the game went on but that’s definitely not how you want to start a ballgame. Started off on a poor note and kind of set the tone,” said Porcello. “I’ve got to be better early on, got to be sharper, that’s the bottom line. I’ve given up too many hits, too many baserunners. That’s leading to the tempo of the game, higher pitch counts and really just grinding to get through innings. I’ve got to get better.”
Porcello did end his evening on a good note, retiring JJ Hardy on a strikeout with runners at first and second with the Red Sox down, 2-0. As he walked off the mound, Porcello was visibly pleased.
“Finally made a big pitch,” he said. “I was excited to get out of that inning. Just the situation we were in, they push another run or two across there, it turns into a really tough ballgame to come back on. So I was just excited to get that out and get us back in the dugout.”
Manager John Farrell put the game in perspective, noting that Porcello improved in the later innings.
“I thought as the game went along he got much better — there was better action, better shape, better location to his stuff,” said Farrell. “He’s in a stretch when he’s making a mistake, or a mislocated pitch, he’s a little snake-bit right now to be honest.
“The deeper he went, the better he got. Started to put the ball on the ground. Made a couple of big pitches in the sixth inning to get through it. So, after a 31-pitch first inning he was able to settle down and keep us in the ballgame. As the game went on, he got better.”
Improving as the season goes along is Porcello’s larger goal.