BOSTON -- Drew Pomeranz believes he can do this all season long. Be effective, pitch well like he did Tuesday.
"It was great," Pomeranz said a day after his first career win at Fenway Park. "Feel like myself again, so it's always easier that way."
If the lefty with forearm issues was unsure of himself going into the start, he didn't let on to that Wednesday.
Tuesday was a particularly long day, though.
"I was pretty amped up and I was feeling really good, so I probably threw a lot in the bullpen," Pomeranz said. "That's a good thing. Usually when I'm throwing a lot, that means I feel like really good."
The question is whether he'll continue to feel good.
He thinks so. But when it comes down to it, all he can control is his outlook. He may have quietly done a better job of that than he's received credit for.
Boston Red Sox
"Yeah, of course," Pomeranz said when asked if this can keep up all year. "Obviously, I didn't pitch the way I would've liked to when I got over here, but I still didn't do -- I pitched pretty good. . . . You have ups and downs. It's just being confident in yourself, staying confident that you know who you are, and you know what makes you good and that's how you bounce back. ‘Cause if you get down on yourself, it's hard to get that swing back up."
In the past 10 months, there's been plenty of reason for Pomeranz to be down on himself.
But when you're a first-round draft pick who's been traded three times; when your medical history last year was addressed by the commissioner, and people are talking about whether you should be sent back to your old team, as though you're a defective Amazon order, you can't help but gain a little perspective.
Because it's a choice: figure out how to handle everything, or drive yourself crazy.
Pomeranz speaks like someone who actively avoids driving himself crazy.
"People are always going to talk," Pomeranz said. "Especially nowadays, all the social media, everyone's got a voice. Have a bad game, have Twitter full of people talking [crap]. It is what it is in today's world. That's why it's really important to stay focused. Focused on the goal.
"Those are all uncontrollable things . . . A lot of times you hear that, control what you can control. What I can control is me coming in here, no matter what trade or what happened. You come in here, put my work in every day and doing everything I can to stay ready, and doing everything I can to stay on the field every time out and get better."
Does he know if his forearm will hold up for 30 starts?
Well, no. How could he?
So, he seems to have taken the only reasonable path available. He keeps a narrow focus and works hard to stay healthy.
Realistically, there's not much else he can do.
"I don't know," Pomeranz said when asked if his forearm is going to be an ongoing concern. "I mean, I feel pretty good today. I feel normal soreness. Like I would any time. Everybody's got things they deal with. I'm feeling great, just, obviously, I'm sore.
"You get a little more sore throwing in a game than you do a bullpen just because there's so much more of your body, adrenaline, everything, but it's a good sore. It's a good feeling."
He could have pretended he felt nothing, just to avoid his soreness being taken out of context. Maybe someday, he'll need some sort of surgery.
It's cliched, but it's fair: what good does it do him to worry about it right now? It'd be one thing if he couldn't get anybody out. Clearly, he's got some juice.
"I don't look at down the road," Pomeranz said. "I take care of what I have that day. And I don't worry about yesterday, I don't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow. I just come in here, go from one thing to the next and try and stay on my routine."
He knows the doubts are there. How well he's dealt with them may not be appreciated enough.
"That's for you guys to all talk about," Pomeranz said of those who want the trade undone. "I've been on both ends of trades like that. … If you sit around worrying about that stuff, you're going to end up putting a lot of extra pressure on yourself. It's my job to not listen to any of that."