Cora Drews up another gamble
Has faith in left-hander Pomeranz
In the World Series, everybody gets a chance at redemption. Even Drew Pomeranz.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora took a leap of faith in a struggling lefty -add another one to the list -- when he surprised the baseball world by adding Pomeranz to the World Series roster at the buzzer yesterday morning.
“We feel that he’ll give us one big out before this is over,” Cora said.
On paper, the move made some sense. The Dodgers have been one of the worst postseason teams against left-handed pitching (.207 average, .585 OPS), the Red Sox have just one other lefty (Eduardo Rodriguez) in the bullpen and they want to match up better than they could with the struggling Brandon Workman.
But to give that lone lefty spot to Pomeranz over Bobby Poyner took major guts from the manager. Who saw this one coming? Pomeranz was the first Red Sox player since John Lackey in 2011 to post an ERA over 6.00 with at least 70 innings pitched.
How fitting. Their stories are quite similar.
Lackey largely disappointed during his first two years in Boston, when he put up a 4.40 ERA in 2010 and a 6.41 ERA in 2011, when he pitched through an elbow injury all year, was booed relentlessly during home starts and needed Tommy John surgery in the offseason.
Two years later, Lackey came back to put up a career year in 2013, then threw three quality starts in four tries in the playoffs. He was given a standing ovation as he walked off the mound in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series after throwing 6⅔ innings of one-run ball against the Cardinals.
Redemption complete, and Lackey should never pay for a coffee in Boston.
Pomeranz, too, had a dramatic swing in performance from year to year, earning him ovations in 2017, when he won 17 games with a 3.32 ERA, and the roaring sound of boos during his awful 2018, when he won just twice with a 6.08 ERA in an injury-shortened season.
It wasn’t just what Pomeranz did, but how he did it that disgusted Red Sox fans all year.
His fastball averaged just 90 mph on the season, well below his 92mph average the year before, and his signature curveball was knocked around at a .380 clip.
He was the opposite of unhittable. And ranked by ERA, he was among the 10 worst pitchers in the major leagues this year.
There have been 78 pitchers with an ERA of at least 6.00 (min. 70 innings) over the last 10 years, and none have thrown a single inning in the playoffs. That’s about to change.
Let Cora sell you on the move. “It’s who we’re playing, a bunch of lefties and a bunch of righties with reverse splits,” Cora said. “I don’t usually get caught up in the whole lefty-whatever, but we’re going to play in the National League and I lived it last year. Last year we carried one lefty. I know we’ve got Eddie (Rodriguez), but they manage the game, especially in a National League ballpark, it’s like, in and out. Like hockey. Like, have different shifts, you know?”
But Pomeranz was awful this year.
“He’s throwing the ball well, actually,” Cora said. “Worked very hard the last two weeks, three weeks. He threw that live BP. Velocity was up. Finally. We’ve been looking for that the whole season. He’s hitting 93, 94 mph. As you guys know, although we didn’t say it during the season, that’s a big difference with him, when he’s throwing that hard. It took us awhile. We talked about it two nights ago. We talked about it last night and then late last night we made the decision.”
If Pomeranz is actually throwing 93-94 mph, and if his curveball is actually spinning, there’s no doubt he can be a weapon. But Cora is putting a lot of faith in a few side sessions.
“I do feel that it got to the point, mid-September, late-September that he said (screw) it, let it rip and see what happens,” Cora said. “And he’s done an outstanding job with (the coaches) and we feel that he’ll give us one big out before this is over.”
It’s a big gamble. Cora’s hit on most of them this year.
If Pomeranz can give the Red Sox big outs on their way to a championship, all will be forgiven.
That’s what the World Series does.