My case for Drew Pomeranz

Drew Pomeranz has pitched well as of late, going 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA in July so far.

I’m not just saying this because I have him on my fantasy team, but Drew Pomeranz is turning into an asset for the Boston Red Sox and right now, he’s pitching like their No. 2 starter behind Chris Sale.

You would call me crazy if I wrote about that at the end of last year. The numbers don’t lie though. After getting the win last night, Pomeranz has thrown at least sixth innings in his fourth straight start, posting a 2.12 ERA in those starts. The team has won all four. He was 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in five starts in June. He’s 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA in July. He’s 10-4 on the year and has struck out 108 batters in 102.2 innings.

You can’t ask for more than that out of Pomeranz.

Now, the playoffs are far away and who knows if the Red Sox actually make the playoffs, even if they have the second best record in the MLB and currently have a three game lead in the AL East. I’m not the kind of person that locks things in months in advance. But we all dream and speculate and like to pretend we run the Red Sox. Hell, I even have over 40 hours logged in Out of the Park Baseball, a baseball simulation game (a great one too), as the general manager of the Boston Red Sox. So just for fun, who would be the Red Sox second starter if the playoffs were to start today?

If it were up to me, I would have Pomeranz as my No. 2 starter.

Chris Sale goes without say. He’s the No. 1 guy. A lot would say David Price No. 2. Those people have good reason. He’s pitching effectively (5-2 record with a 3.39 ERA with 61 innings in 10 starts) but that 2-8 playoff record with his 5.54 ERA just doesn’t do it for me. He got shelled in just 3 1/3 innings against Cleveland last October and you know Pomeranz wasn’t half bad out of the bullpen last year. He struck out seven guys in just 3.2 innings.

Price has deserved respect with the way he has pitched so far this season. I’m not trying to take away from Price’s year. To me, Pomeranz has just been consistent, the same reason why Rick Porcello got the nod in Game 1 of the ALDS. Wouldn’t going against the reason now be solely because Price is a bigger name with bigger expectations making $30 million?
I can’t take anything away from Price, but Pomeranz has pitched consistently well. It’s the reason why Porcello pitched Game 1 last year and it’s the reason why I believe Pomeranz should pitch Game 2 starter this year.