Which Red Sox starter will be the most dependable: Pomeranz, E-Rod or Wright?
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The Sox have basically gone through the rotation twice now. Have you seen any indication that anyone in this group after Sale and Porcello is capable of picking up the slack if David Price is out for several months or even the season? Drew Pomeranz was good in his first start, but other than that, not very encouraging. – Patrick J.
Well, first things first, I’m actually kind of encouraged by Price’s reported progress now, so maybe this won’t be an issue in the first place. I really thought we were going to get some inevitable news in the past few weeks that Price was headed for a second visit with Dr. James Andrews — and we’d see him again in July 2018. But it looks like the scalpel may be dodged. Dr. Andrews can now focus his time on Clay Buchholz, I guess.
But if Price does end up missing significant time beyond another month or six weeks or so, we would have to say that the competition to take his innings and his role as a legitimate top-three starter in the rotation has been less than inspiring. Pomeranz was excellent — dare I say even Bruce Hurst-like — in his first start, but he’s always an injury risk. Steven Wright has been throwing a knuckleball that doesn’t knuckle, which can be a bit of a problem unless you like marveling at opposing hitters’ moonshots. Eduardo Rodriguez is the most talented of the lot, but he’s still maddeningly inconsistent at age 24. He should be a 15-game winner on stuff alone, but he still gets distracted too easily and must be considered an enigma.
So I guess my actual answer to the question is Pomeranz, albeit based on a puny sample size this season and his relatively impressive pedigree (former first-round pick, All-Star last year in the NL, big lefty with good stuff). But I think this whole conversation further confirms it’s imperative that Price gets healthy.
What do you guys say? Of Pomeranz, Wright, and E-Rod, who is mostly likely to become a consistently productive starter this season? I’ll see you in the comments.
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