Drew off to good start
Takes 1st step in building image
Since his arrival in Boston last summer, through the winter and all spring, Drew Pomeranz has kept us all guessing about who and what he is.
Like whether he’s any good. Whether he can stay healthy. Whether he’s a starter or a reliever.
Whether All-Star selection last year was a fluke.
Whether the trade to get him from San Diego was a boondoggle.
Last night, Pomeranz made his 2017 debut. And guess what? He was outstanding. In his best start in 15 tries for the Sox, Pomeranz nullified a dangerous Orioles lineup, holding them to one run on four hits in six-plus innings, striking out six and walking just one.
When the stakes were high, he rose to the occasion, holding the O’s hitless in their four at-bats with runners in scoring position.
When he needed to jack up his velocity, he did. He hit 95 mph early in the game.
When he needed to flip a curve in for a strike, he laid it in there.
It was only one outing for the No. 5 starter, and it came in Game No. 7 for the Red Sox, but it established an identity for Pomeranz.
He has plenty more to prove, but Pomeranz can be a really good pitcher.
“Drew was awesome,” catcher Christian Vazquez said. “He pitched well, and he was attacking the zone and getting ahead and getting the hitters out of balance. The curveball was breaking good, and he was good.”
Manager John Farrell liked the curveball, too. And the fastball. “Very powerful — the environment, the fact that he was able to get six innings of work once we broke camp, but tonight (he had) maybe a little bit more power than anticipated,” Farrell said. “The action to his curveball was sharp and tight. He did a great job in the second inning when they get second and third with just one out. But just the overall power was very encouraging to see.”
That second inning was when Pomeranz demonstrated he was running the show rather than running from it. He needed 22 pitches in the first inning, which featured a two-out walk to Manny Machado before he struck out Mark Trumbo.
And then with one out the next inning, Welington Castillo singled and moved to third on Trey Mancini’s double. That brought up the underrated Jonathan Schoop, who fouled out to first base, followed by J.J. Hardy, who flied out to center.
Crisis averted. Only 15 pitches used.
Pomeranz faced only one more than the minimum in innings two through six, before surrendering a leadoff single in the seventh when it was time to go.
He threw 91 pitches in all, meaning that after a 22-pitch first inning, he settled into an efficient and effective shut-down mode.
“I felt like I waited forever to get that first start in,” said Pomeranz, who was held back in spring training with a flexor strain in his left forearm. “I think I haven’t thrown off the mound in eight or nine days, something like that. So I tried to do everything I could to stay ready and stay ready for this day. I’ve been working hard, and things clicked in warmups today, and I felt really good out there.”
He credited a small adjustment in his timing for his command and his velocity and all the positivity.
“Every day is different out there when you’re warming up. Today I was feeling really good, I was letting it fly,” said Pomeranz, who got the first Fenway win of his career. “I was trying to be aggressive, I was getting good extension, the ball was coming out so it didn’t matter if I was throwing 90 like I was at the end or 95, it was still coming out how it needed to come out. It really makes it easier on me when I get the timing right.”
Pomeranz was not interested in comparing this start to others he’s had here.
“I don’t know comparatively, but that’s the best I’ve felt in a long time, put it that way,” he said. It can be put another way. Pomeranz saved his best for his first start this year.
That’s how reputations are shaped and identities are formed.
If this is the image Pomeranz is determined to blaze this season, if this is his true self, he’s going to change everything we knew about him, for the better.