BOSTON -- Everyone’s going to have their theory on this: Corey Kluber is better, David Price can’t pitch in the playoffs, Rick Porcello is overrated, the Red Sox starters lack intestinal fortitude, etc.
Some of those, or takes not mentioned, could play a factor in the Red Sox' 0-2 deficit to the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, but one thing that’s been looked over is the way each of them pitched.
That doesn’t just mean good or bad, because that’s pretty obvious.
Porcello has been pretty consistent with his approach all season. Rely on the sinker early and keep the ball down. When he gets to two strikes, elevated the fastball, which sets up his 12-6 curveball more often.
With the exception of the third (and maybe the second) home run he gave up, he stuck to that plan in Game 1, but didn’t have his typical success still.
Then there’s Price. Where Porcello is more of a control guy, Price is defined as a “stuff” guy. And he shows it with his game plan -- or seemingly lack there of.
Price is never the same pitcher on a given day. One day his fastball’s his out pitch, another it’s his spectacular change-up and so on.
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There’s no question he has some game plan -- there are to many analytics not to this day in age -- it’s just a matter of how well he sticks to it.
Last is Kluber. During the regular season, Kluber used his breaking ball 1/3 of the time with two strikes against both lefties (33 percent) and righties (34 percent). He’d also used his sinker 28 and 29 percent of the time, respectively, in those same circumstances. But he’d also mixed his cutter in a fair amount throughout the season (16 and 19 percent), too.
However, in his Friday night start in Game 2, right-handed hitters never saw the cutter with two strikes, and saw his sinker 46 percent of the time -- with the two most memorable coming when he struck Hanley Ramirez out looking, twice.
Righties also saw his slider a bit more (38 percent), but when lefties got two strikes, he threw that pitch 43 percent of the time.
So what does that all mean?
Kluber slightly deviated from the pitcher he’s been all year, however, he established a new game plan and stuck to it.
Whenever Price and Porcello get their next turn, hopefully that can rip that page from the 2014 Cy Young-winner’s book.