Pumped-up Pomeranz good to go for Game 2

HOUSTON — Drew Pomeranz has been a firstround draft pick and a trade deadline disappointment. He’s been an All-Star and an afterthought, praised for his potential, then shoved aside for someone else.

Just six months ago, he was the Red Sox’ fifth starter.

Today, he gets the ball in Game 2 of the AL Division Series, with the Red Sox trailing the Houston Astros following yesterday’s 8-2 loss.

Beyond Game 1 starter Chris Sale and Pomeranz, the postseason rotation is built on a wing and a prayer, loaded with uncertainty, but Pomeranz has become a source of stability. And he’s been rewarded with the biggest start of his career.

“It’s one thing to know what you need to do to pitch better or pitch in that division,” Pomeranz said. “But it’s (another) to actually accomplish and work on and kind of nail down the things that you need to get better at. I think I did that pretty good this year.”

Pomeranz finished seventh in the American League in ERA (3.32) and tied for second in wins (17). He was better than reigning Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, he stayed healthier than David Price and he delivered more consistency than either Eduardo Rodriguez or Doug Fister.

It’s perhaps an unlikely climb from fifth starter to Game 2, or it’s simply the evolution of a 28-year-old who was the fifth overall pick in 2010.

“I have done everything,” Pomeranz said. “I enjoy starting. I still think I’m a starter. I think my first postseason experience I was in a wild card game (with the 2014 Oakland A’s) and I didn’t get to pitch, so all I wanted to do, like, last year was pitch, and I got into the bullpen. So, this year I’m pretty excited (to make a start).”

The Red Sox traded for Pomeranz last season, when he seemed to be in the middle of a breakthrough season that saw him earn an All-Star nod with the San Diego Padres, but he arrived in Boston and pitched to a 4.59 ERA the rest of the way. He was bumped to the bullpen for the Division Series sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians, and he was the last man in the rotation coming out of spring training this year.

The emergence this season proved crucial as the rest of the rotation, aside from Sale, struggled with health and performance.

It was Pomeranz who started at Fenway Park on Saturday when the Red Sox clinched the AL East title. Against these same AL West champion Astros, who had nearly all of their regulars in the lineup, Pomeranz went six innings with three hits and one run.

“You kind of have an idea of what the guys do,” Pomeranz said. “It’s one thing to look at them on paper, look at the scouting reports and all this or watch video, but (it helps) to know, to kind of feel out how they’re approaching the box against me last time. Kind of goes both ways. They got to see me; I got to see them. So, we’ll make a game plan based off of how the last start went, and kind of adjust going into it.”

Adjustment has been key. Pomeranz said some of his late-season velocity dip can be attributed to throwing more two-seam fastballs and fewer four-seam fastballs.

“But there were things that I had talked to Rick Porcello, too, about pitching in Fenway and adjustments that you need to make,” he said.

Pomeranz had a 6.43 ERA at Fenway Park last season, a 3.44 this year. His ERA was even lower on the road, and in his one start at Minute Maid Park, he allowed one run in 61⁄3 innings.

“I’m pretty anxious for (today) to come,” he said. “Thankfully it’s a day game so I don’t have to wait around all day for a night game to get out there.”