The Boston Red Sox extended the contract of Rick Porcello this offseason, making the 26-year-old a $20 million per season pitcher. His extension was for four-years and $82.5 million with the plan for him to essentially be a replacement for established ace Jon Lester, the former Sox lefty who decided to take his talents to Chicago. The Red Sox acquired Porcello in a trade with the Tigers for Yoenis Cespedes and he signed his extension before ever pitching a single inning for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox maybe should have seen their high-priced acquisition pitch in their uniform before giving him all that money and committing themselves to him for years to come. Porcello threw 200 innings for the Tigers last season and had an impressive 3.43 ERA. Given the security of a huge contract and entering the prime of his career many believed Porcello would build off last season and be the ace for a competitive Boston team. Porcello is currently trending in the opposite direction with a 6.08 ERA, the second worst in all of baseball for qualified starting pitchers. Porcello isn’t alone in his struggles, besides the emergence of Clay Buchholz and the hot start for rookie Eduardo Rodriguez, fellow first year Red Sox Wade Miley has also struggled and Joe Kelly was recently optioned to the minors. Even with a bottom tier team ERA, Porcello has still stood out as the worst and most disappointing of the Red Sox pitchers. The bright lights of Boston and the scrutiny of perhaps the harshest media in sports entertainment has seemingly taken its toll on Porcello who often looks visibly rattled on the mound. The home run ball has been Porcello’s biggest problem; the righty has allowed 16 home runs, the 5th most in the American League. Porcello’s last start was rock bottom for the former Tiger; Porcello lasted just 2 innings while giving up 7 runs and 3 home runs against the Blue Jays. Especially troubling for Porcello in his last start is the fact that the Red Sox were playing maybe their best baseball of the season winning 6 of 10 and 3 in a row before Porcello’s meltdown. Aces or prospective aces are meant to bust losing streaks and maintain winning streaks; Porcello was in a prime spot to keep momentum on his team’s side and unfortunately fell flat on his face, not exactly instilling confidence in his teammates, organization, or fans. The level of scrutiny is only going to intensify for Porcello as baseball takes its turn in the sports spotlight. If Porcello is unable to stay out of the middle of the plate and continues to give up home runs and fall victim to big innings he could be on his way out of Boston, another victim of the Boston media meat grinder. His big contract assures him a longer leash but unless he shows flashes of 2014 Rick Porcello that long leash might not matter. Main Photo: FT. MYERS, FL – MARCH 3: Rick Porcello of the Boston Red Sox at jetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida on March 3, 2015. (Photo by Michael Ivins/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
