The Red Sox rotation is among the many great things about this 2018 squad. Chris Sale has been great. Porcello has done a great job as well. However, there are still a few questions regarding Boston’s starters.
The first question is David Price. With an ERA over 4.00 this season, Price hasn’t been one you can count on so far into the year. For a large chunk of his career in Boston so far, it’s been nothing but meh. And meh is not what you want to see coming out of a guy who gets about $1,000,000 a start. I myself haven’t fully given up on this guy, and neither should you. But there is no question that needs to start getting it together and pitch like the ace that we signed.
The other question is Drew Pomeranz/Steven Wright. Who is going to have the fourth/fifth spot of the rotation between the two? Pomeranz, before going on the DL for a while, was awful. And that’s just being nice. With an ERA near 7.00, he got knocked out for a while before starting his return. So far, his return isn’t looking so good. In one of his more recent starts in the minors, he gave up four homers. Steven Wright, on the other hand, had a sub 2.00 ERA in three starts before giving up ten earned runs to Seattle. He has been on the DL ever since.
As far as Eduardo Rodriguez goes, he has had an overall solid year. He hasn’t shown his full potential yet but he’s certainly shown flashes of a top of the rotation arm.
One other alarming thing about this rotation is the fact that none of their current starters have any proven postseason success. If the plan is to go deep into October, that fact has to change. I don’t think many people are concerned about Chris Sale. But as far as Rick Porcello, David Price (who is historically bad in October), and the guys who don’t have much experience such as ERod, Pomeranz, and Wright go, they will be needing to step up.
Now here comes the question: should Dombrowski look to add at that position specifically as the deadline approaches? It’s definitely not a #1 need. The bullpen would be the first thing most people would point to. If there is a cheap price to get a pretty good starter, sure. Why not just pull the trigger? But unless Dombrowski can get some kind of steal, there should be no real urgency to get a starting pitcher.
