A day after one Red Sox official questioned why all the blame for the Red Sox's disappointing season is on the bullpen, starter Rick Porcello echoed that idea. Porcello and his 5.61 ERA are certainly part of the problem when it comes to the rotation, even he admits that.
"We haven’t been firing on all cylinders and I’ve been a big part of that," Porcello told Rob Bradford of WEEI. "I think a lot of the momentum and flow of our team comes from starting pitching. The offense is going to do what they do. When you have strong starting pitching that allows you to control the game the way you want to control it, whether it is bullpen usage or anything. I would be the first one to admit, I’ve been the biggest problem with that."
Porcello has struggled with his command over his fastball throughout the year, and the growing homer-or-strikeout approach from hitters may not lend itself well to Porcello's stuff, he told WEEI. The product of Porcello's lack of command has been inconsistency. The former Cy Young has allowed 18 home runs in 20 outings.
Though Porcello has posted a career-high ERA in 2019, he said it has nothing to do with being in a contract year. Before this season, Porcello said he was willing to take a hometown discount for a contract extension, but the Red Sox demurred, allowing Porcello's contract to expire after the 2019 season. Porcello won 22 games and the American League Cy Young Award in 2016 for the Red Sox, but has historically been up-and-down statistically from year-to-year.
"All I can control is my preparation, how I perform and hopefully the impact I make on the guys who are around me every day," Porcello said. "...You play enough baseball you start to realize it’s so much wasted energy thinking about if we’re going to get a player, am I going to get traded, what’s going to happen, are we still trying to win? I have one priority right now and that’s getting my shit right to get guys out."
Recently, the Sox have publicly discussed how the current 14-game stretch against the Yankees and Rays will decide whether or not they're buyers or sellers at the July 31 deadline. If the Sox can't make up ground in the Wild Card race, they could look to flip a player like Porcello to a team interested in renting a starter. Porcello, however, isn't worried about getting traded, and is confident the Red Sox can "turn this around."
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Porcello's optimism that the 2019 Red Sox will be tested now, and he knows as well as anyone that Boston needs his A-game if they want to prove themselves as contenders before the deadline.
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