Baseball is a game that champions numbers and statistics. Players chasing important milestones can energize themselves, their team and of course the fans. Listed below are likely milestones to be achieved by Red Sox pitchers during the 2019 season.
Potential Red Sox Pitching Milestones for 2019
150 Wins – David Price, Rick Porcello
Red Sox starters David Price and Rick Porcello enter the 2019 season as three of the top five active major league pitchers closest to the 150 win total. David Price sits seven wins away from the milestone and is almost guaranteed to achieve this milestone during the course of this season.
Rick Porcello sits a bit further away from the milestone needing 15 wins. Baseball Reference predicts that Porcello will be unable to reach the milestone falling a little short with only 13 wins. Porcello concluded the 2018 season with a record of 17-7 and I believe Porcello will finish the 2019 regular season with exactly 150 wins.
A member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, Jim Lonborg, is the closest notable Boston alumni to the pitchers. Lonborg’s career win total of 157 compiled during the mid-60s to late-70s places him in 238th all-time for wins. Older Red Sox fans remember for Lonborg for his career year in 1967 when he lead the league in strikeouts and wins earning him the Cy Young Award. Lonborg was the first Red Sox pitcher to receive the Cy Young award.
Current players lurking just over 150 wins include Max Scherzer at 159 wins, Cole Hamels at 156 wins and Clayton Kershaw at 156 wins.
Predictions: Price 5/30 – vs As, Porcello 9/3 vs Twins
2,000 Innings Pitched: David Price, Rick Porcello.
Again, these two Red Sox hurlers place among top five in pitchers closest to this milestone. David Price is 77.7 innings away and Rick Porcello is 137 innings away. Price’s distance is nearly half his Baseball Reference predicted playing time for the year, 150 innings. Unless sustaining a significant injury Price should reach the milestone by the All-Star Break. Porcello is also well within his Baseball Reference predicted playing time of 176 meaning he is highly likely to reach the milestone as well
Notable Red Sox dot the top-50 of the all-time innings pitched list. Cy Young himself sits atop it. Young pitched eight years in Boston and is the only person ever to have over 7,000 innings pitched, coming in at 7,356. Roger Clemens sits at 16th on the list with his 4,917 career innings pitched. Further down the list is Lefty Grove, Grove played eight years in Boston just prior to the outbreak of World War II. Grove’s 3,941 innings pitched puts him at 44th all-time.
The only other real contenders currently likely to achieve 2,000 innings pitched in the 2019 season include Edwin Jackson and Adam Wainwright. Despite the fact that Jackson currently remains a free agent Baseball Reference predicts he will achieve 109 innings pitched placing him at 2,001 career total. Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals is only 68 innings pitched away from 2,000, well within his baseball reference predictions.
Prediction: Price- 7/7 at Twins, Porcello 8/10 vs Angels.
300 Games Started: David Price
Rounding out our milestone watch is once again, David Price. Price is one of four current players probable to reach this milestone in the 2019 season. Price sits only 11 starts away from 300 and as one of the highest paid and highest performing pitchers in the Red Sox rotation will be able to easily exceed this milestone. With the exception of injury, Price should definitely reach 300 by the first three months of the season.
The list of historical Red Sox game start leaders is similar to the pitchers already mentioned above. Young again sits at the very top. Clemens jumps up the list into the top 10 at 7th with 707 games started. Grove falls down the list to a tie at 81st with Hall of Famer Juan Marichal at 457 starts.
A pair of current players are steadily climbing up the all-time game start leader list. Bartolo Colon sits at a tie for 29th with Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson at 552 games started. Slightly behind him is CC Sabathia at a tie for 33rd with Hall of Famer Red Ruffing at 538 games started.
Prediction: 6/7 vs Rays.
Last Word
David Price and Rick Porcello are each looking to have a season filled with notable milestones. Both Red Sox players are likely to surpass 150 wins. As well, both players will likely also cross 2,000 innings played. Lastly, Price will have started over 300 games by the 2019 season’s end.
Check out the counterpart to this article, Red Sox batting milestone for 2019 here.
Main Photo:
