Sox take it easy with Pomeranz
BALTIMORE — It’s not all about winning tonight with Drew Pomeranz.
It might not look pretty, but as long it’s not ugly, the Red Sox have no reason to push the panic button. Not yet, at least. They’re going to need this guy later. And even if it costs them a few mediocre starts to get him going, the team with the best record in baseball can afford it. His upside is worth the risk.
As Pomeranz takes the ball tonight for the first time in two months, the Red Sox want to see progress in his curveball. A good curveball would give them reason to hope.
“I feel like his breaking ball wasn’t there (before the injury),” manager Alex Cora said before last night’s 5-3 win against the Orioles. “He battled. He threw five or six innings. He would find ways to give you a chance to win, but I never thought that his breaking ball was where it was last year. I think now that he went through a process and he feels good about it, we’re going to see a different guy.”
After each of Pomeranz’ last four minor league starts, Cora never did predict excellent results; he was too busy explaining the bad ones. In Pomeranz’ first three rehab starts, he gave up eight earned runs in 11 innings. He struck out seven and walked seven. In his final outing, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in Pawtucket.
All of a sudden, Cora had confidence.
“He felt good as far as his mechanics, but I think there was conviction behind the pitches,” Cora said. “I told him that last inning regardless — he gave up a home run — I saw a different breaking ball from what we saw early in the season. There was conviction behind it. Down in the zone. He was able to throw fastballs up and the breaking balls off of it. It was a good one regardless of the level. That’s what we expect tomorrow.”
It’s been a complete disaster so far for Pomeranz. He had a difficult time throwing in the low 90s from the beginning. At one point it seemed like he was tipping his pitches. And he finally went to the disabled list with biceps tendinitis.
His numbers before the injury told the story. Piling up 36 strikeouts in 37 innings shows that he had something working, but he also walked 21 batters and gave up 47 hits while putting up a 6.81 ERA.
If he can stay healthy, the Red Sox would love a repeat of last season when he was locked in for almost the entire second half, putting up a 3.01 ERA after the break. The only blemish was a poor outing against the Astros in Game 2 of the Division Series. Hitters batted just .273 off his curveball last year; they’re hitting .424 off it in 2018.
Pearce a plus
More action is expected from the Sox before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but they feel like they got a head start by acquiring Steve Pearce from the Blue Jays at the end of June. The numbers speak for themselves: .405 average, six extra-base hits in 13 games.
Cora appreciates Pearce’s plate discipline as much as anything, but most importantly, the Red Sox have another heavy weapon in the thick of the lineup against left-handers.
And he’s versatile, too, perhaps Cora’s favorite attribute.
“We can put him at first, second, in the outfield, he can DH,” Cora said. “He’s great in the clubhouse. Veteran guy who has been in this situation before. It feels like as soon as he walked into the clubhouse in New York he fit right in with the group. Excellent guy. He’s always asking questions. He sits with the young guys, too, which is very important for our group.
“I always said there’s a few guys in our clubhouse that skipped part of the player development process. For a veteran guy to come in and being able to spend time with those guys, that’s very valuable.”
No info on Pedroia
What’s new with Dustin Pedroia? Last we heard he said he would get an MRI around mid-August and the results would indicate his fate this season. Since then, Pedroia went back to Arizona to be with his family and get extra attention from the physical therapists, who report back to inform Red Sox head trainer Brad Pearson.
“I haven’t talked to him in a while,” Cora said. “We haven’t talked about what is going on. Just give him a week, do his thing and when we get back home we’ll probably address where he’s at.”
Injury update
On the pitching front, Steven Wright (knee) is still in a down period and has yet to do any baseball activities. And the Sox should know more about Eduardo Rodriguez (ankle) sometime next week after his walking boot comes off.
Meanwhile, Brock Holt (knee) returned to the lineup last night after missing the last two games in Detroit, where he was spiked on Friday night.