After allowing three earned runs in the sixth inning during Saturday night’s 5-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers, right-hander Tyler Thornburg’s ERA rose to 10.38 in five games since making his long-awaited debut with the team on July 6.
The big blow off Thornburg was a two-run shot by light-hitting Jose Iglesias, who drove in four of Detroit’s five runs. The homer was Iglesias’ third of the year, and third overall against his former team.
Former Red Sox power hitter Jose Iglesias takes Tyler Thornburg deep
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) July 21, 2018
A Decent Start
Prior to Saturday, Thornburg was coming off consecutive scoreless appearances after allowing a single run in each of his first two outings. Additionally, Thornburg’s allowed at least one hit in all five games he’s pitched. He is still looking for that clean inning.
It was certainly not the start Thornburg and fans were hoping for.
If Tyler Thornburg is allowing homeruns to Jose Iglesias, he is not the answer for the eighth-inning.
— Tony Massarotti (@TonyMassarotti) July 21, 2018
Working Out The Kinks
Despite Thornburg’s rocky start to the season after missing all of 2017, the Red Sox are optimistic he’ll turn things around. Following Saturday night’s loss, team coaches Dana LeVangie and Craig Bjornson studied video of Thornburg during the game. They compared it to video of him during his breakout 2016 campaign with the Milwaukee Brewers.
According to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, LeVangie and Bjornson identified a mechanical flaw with Thornburg. Manager Alex Cora chimed in, saying he’s hopeful it’ll be “the last hurdle” for Thornburg to overcome in his road back from thoracic outlet sydrome surgery.
Prior to Sunday’s series finale, Thornburg was working to correct the flaw with LeVangie and Bjornson.
Dana LeVangie and Craig Bjornson studied some video of Tyler Thornburg last night and found something noticeably different from his time in Milwaukee. They’re out working on it in the rain pregame today. pic.twitter.com/ETtJT2OKOh
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) July 22, 2018
Help Is On The Way
Assuming Thornburg fixes the problem, it should be nothing but good news for the Red Sox. The bullpen has gone through a stretch of unreliability as of late, and an effective Thornburg can no doubt help fix that situation.