With Drew Pomeranz struggling mightily as of late, changes could be made in the Red Sox rotation. The answer to this problem is sitting in the bullpen. Since Steven Wright has come off the DL, he has shown shades of his 2016 All-Star self. Here are a few reasons why Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright should switch places:
Pomeranz’s Success in the Bullpen
Drew Pomeranz has pitched well when coming out of the bullpen in his career. In 64.1 innings pitched as a reliever, he has a 2.10 ERA with a WHIP of 0.995. The Red Sox could use another lefty out of the bullpen with fellow southpaw Brian Johnson struggling. Johnson had an ERA of 6.30 in ten innings pitched in May. Batters hit an ERA of .293 off of him last month. An important split to look at is how lefty hitters fare against Brian Johnson (.273). The reason why lefties are used out of the bullpen is get left-handed batters off base, and he is not doing that. Pomeranz could be useful out of the bullpen until he works things out.
Wright’s Efficiency
AP
A noted problem with Drew Pomeranz is his inability to go deep into games. This is mostly due to his pitch counts getting to triple-digits by the fourth inning. Steven Wright has thrown around 109 pitches per seven innings, which is much more efficient than Pomeranz. Drew has thrown an astounding 137 pitches per seven innings. It is critical that we can get innings out of starters because it is supposed to be a strength for the Red Sox. Efficiency turns into more innings, which will translate to a more rested bullpen.
Overall Performance
Steven Wright has just been an all-around better pitcher this year than Drew Pomeranz. Wright has a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings. Pomeranz has a 6.81 ERA in 37 innings. Sure, you can make the point that portion sizes are not close enough to compare, but the difference in ERA should be enough. Alex Cora needs to give serious consideration to the idea of giving Pomeranz’s next start to the knuckleballer Steven Wright.