Tag Archives: starting pitchers

Nathan Eovaldi Should Be Top Priority

2018 was a fun ride for fans and players, now it’s time to get down to business. For the Red Sox, I think they need to find a way to keep Eovaldi in Boston. Reports on the situation are that Boston does indeed want to re-sign him. If they are unable to make that happen, they want to sign another proven Major League starter to replace him. I think that it is imperative to keep him.

Here’s Why Eovaldi Needs To Stay

With Nathan Eovaldi re-signed Boston’s starting rotation would be unreal with Sale, Price, Porcello, and Rodriguez all staying put. Suring up that rotation with Nathan would be smart. Boston has their key offensive pieces in place. Boston doesn’t have to worry about Mookie Betts or JD Martinez this year, so instead of signing another veteran pitcher, this is why Eovaldi is the answer.

Game 4 of the ALDS against the rival Yankees, Eovaldi dominated, pitching 7 plus innings with 1 run allowed. New York is also one of the teams that could be in on him. As the Red Sox continued into the ALCS, Eovaldi was great again. 6 plus innings with just 2 runs as the Sox won Game 3 using his arm again. As we all know by now the Red Sox beat the Houston Astros, and we were introduced to the rover. Alex Cora used Eovaldi as his rover in game 5 of the ALCS and in Games 1 and 2 of the World Series. In those 3 games, he came into each game and threw fire allowing 0 runs, while making it look easy. Even with short rest, Boston was going to have him start Game 4 of the World Series, but Game 3 changed that plan.

Eovaldi Turns in Heroic Performance Showing His Selflessness

Eovaldi was perfect for the Red Sox and should stay in Boston

Once again, Eovaldi was called on as Game 3 of the World Series turned into a marathon of a game. Still tied in the 12th inning, Nathan Eovaldi came out of the pen. In one of the greatest performances I’ve ever witnessed, he turned in a heroic 6 inning relief appearance. He knew that he was putting his future in jeopardy, by pitching so often. Anything could have happened and he could’ve lost a lot of money. As a free-agent-to-be, he risked his health along with future contracts, but he just wanted to help his team. Putting all of that aside, he went deep into the 18th inning, hitting triple digits on the radar gun like it was nothing.

Eovaldi pitched a gem and kept the Sox in the game as long as he could. In the bottom of the 18th, he gave up a solo shot to end the longest game in history. His teammates were all amazed at what he just did, some brought to tears as they realized how much Nathan just gave for his team. I believe it galvanized an already very close clubhouse. Eovaldi was a huge reason for Boston’s Championship.

Closing Thoughts on Nathan Eovaldi

Boston should do what they can to keep Eovaldi. He’s 28 years old, extremely dominant and the way he pitched since arriving in Boston is all I need to know about him. For what it’s worth he threw 16 scoreless innings against the Yankees in the regular season. Also, his 1.35 ERA in September combined with what he did in the postseason, I believe he’s worth the $15 million range. He himself said he’d love to stay in Boston. While many teams will be fighting for him, I believe he wants to be here enough that he and Boston will work something out.

The Top Starting Pitchers in Baseball

1. Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw, pretty clearly to me, is the best pitcher in baseball. What he has accomplished these past five to seven years is historic, and at just 29 years old he is already a top 10 left-handed pitcher of all-time in my book. From 2013-2016, Kershaw had an ERA below 2.00 in three of those four seasons. His WHIP has been under 1.00 in each of the past five seasons.

In these past seven years, Kershaw has a 118-41 win-loss record to go with a 2.10 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. During this remarkable run, he has never finished lower than 5th in the Cy Young vote; that fifth place finish was thanks to an injury. If Kershaw had not missed time that year he likely would have won his 4th Cy Young. As it stands, he has three of them along with two 2nd place finishes and an MVP Award.

If there is one thing that can keep Clayton Kershaw from being number one, it is injuries. Kershaw has missed some time the past couple seasons due to injury. The injuries haven’t been to his arm, but each of the last two years it has been a back injury that has forced him out. The fact that he has now had recurring issues with his back is of some concern. However, with how dominant he is, and just turning 30 this March, Kershaw still ranks number one in my book.

2. Max Scherzer

At 33, Scherzer is the old man of the lists, which makes me feel old. It doesn’t seem like that long ago I took him as a dark horse to win the AL Cy Young and he did. Since, Scherzer has developed into one of the very best in the game. Over the past five seasons, Scherzer has won 3 Cy Young Awards and placed in the top five in the other two. During that stretch, he is 89-33 with a 2.87 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 10.9 strike outs per nine innings. Scherzer has also thrown two no-hitters and tied a Major League mark by striking out 20 batters in one game. He seems like he will contend for Cy Young Awards for a few more seasons, and that is good enough for me.

Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire

3. Corey Kluber

I don’t think you can go wrong in an order for these top three pitchers. What Kluber has done while pitching in the American League could certainly warrant consideration for the top spot. Surprising to me, Kluber will be 32 this April, two years older than Kershaw despite beginning his career later. Kluber has really taken off the past four seasons, winning two Cy Young Awards and placing third in another year. He has led the league in wins twice, ERA once and WHIP once during that span. He has also struck out more batters than innings pitched in each of those seasons. Kluber rode a fantastic second half last season to his second Cy Young Award. With 1006 strike outs, a 2.83 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over the past four seasons, it’s hard to argue with Kluber in any one of these top three spots.

4. Chris Sale

Sale is the first one who won’t be 30 by season’s end. However, as great as Sale is, he seems to be a notch behind the three above him. Nonetheless, what Sale has achieved is pretty amazing. Sale began his professional career as a relief pitcher, making just 11 appearances in the minors before a call up the same year he was drafted. He then made 79 relief appearances over his first two seasons. In his six seasons since as a starter, Sale has made six all-star teams and has never finished lower than sixth place in a Cy Young vote. He has a 3.01 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.5 strike outs per nine innings during that time period.

After being acquired by the Red Sox last offseason, Sale struck out a career high 308 batters and led the league. This was the second time in his career that Sale had led the league in strike outs. The total helped Sale to a second place Cy Young finish behind Corey Kluber, the closest he has come to winning the award. One thing that could help Sale invade the ranks of the guys above him is finishing years stronger. Sale has a tendency to fade late in the year, with September being by far the worst month of his career historically.

Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale delivers a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

5. Madison Bumgarner

Bumgarner seems like he has been around for a while and thrown a ton of innings, but he is still only 28 years old. One of the best pitchers in baseball this decade, Bumgarner has a 3.01 career ERA. Before last season’s injury plagued year, he had posted an ERA under 3.00 in four consecutive seasons. His strike out rate had also been climbing during that stretch, peaking at 10 strike outs per nine in 2016.

Where Bumgarner really separates himself is in the postseason. Over 14 starts and 16 appearances during postseason play, Bumgarner is 8-3 with a 2.11 ERA. He elevates his game even further for the World Series, going 4-0 with a save in his five appearances. During those games, Bumgarner has allowed one run, just one, over 36 innings pitched. He has allowed an absurd 14 base hits during those 36 innings. He is the pitcher you want on the mound come playoffs.

Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

6. Noah Syndergaard

“Thor”, as he has been called, has only pitched in parts of three seasons at the big league level. Last season was mostly a wasted season for him, only making seven starts due to injury. The fact he still comes in at six speaks volumes to the talent he has shown. Syndergaard’s average fastball this past season was 98.6 miles per hour! That’s just his average, not his top speed. His devastating slider sits in the low to mid-90’s, which is nearly unheard of for a breaking pitch. In 2016, his one full season to this point, Syndergaard had a 2.60 ERA and struck out 218 batters against just 43 walks. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.

7. Stephen Strasburg

Strasburg is the second Nationals player to make this list. One of the most hyped pitchers I have witnessed coming out of college, Strasburg has always been good, but never quite living up to expectations. Last season, seven years after his debut, Strasburg posted the best season of his career. He was 15-4 with a career low 2.52 ERA and 1.015 WHIP. Maybe he is learning what it takes to fully tap into all that potential. His biggest pitfall has been injuries. Strasburg blew out his arm in just his second professional season and hasn’t made 30 starts in any of the last three seasons.

8. Dallas Keuchel

Keuchel doesn’t get enough recognition from the media and public because he isn’t a flashy strike out pitcher. However, all he does is get outs, and a lot of them come on the ground. Since Keuchel broke out four years ago, he has struck out 7.6 batters per nine innings. That total was pretty decent in the nineties, but nowadays it barely registers on the radar. It doesn’t matter though, Keuchel has posted an ERA below 3.00 in three of the last four seasons. In 2015 he won the Cy Young Award after going 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA. Last year he may have contended for the award again had it not been for injury. On June 2nd, when he went down with the injury, Keuchel was 9-0 with a 1.67 ERA. He missed nearly two months and had a few rocky outings after returning.

9. Luis Severino

At 23 years old, Severino is the youngest one on my list. He will be 24 by month’s end, and his inclusion here is a nod to his age and the promise he has shown. Before the 2015 seasons, Baseball America rated Severino as the 35th best prospect in baseball. After dominating AAA he showed promise in 11 starts at the big league level. To the delight of Red Sox fans, he was a mess the following season, going 3-8 with a very high ERA and WHIP. However, Severino fixed whatever was wrong and came back stronger than ever last season. While pitching in one of the most hitter friendly stadiums, Severino went 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA and struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings.

10. Carlos Carrasco

Carrasco, although highly thought of, also seems to fly just a little under the radar. After being a good prospect as far back as a decade ago, Carrasco took some time to find his footing. Since his breakout in 2014 though, he has been one of the best pitchers in the American League. I gave him the nod at the tenth spot over a couple National Leaguers because his numbers are similar while pitching in a tougher league. Turning 31 just before the start of this coming season, Carrasco should have plenty of years left in his arm. Over the past four seasons he has a 3.24 ERA and a stellar 1.08 WHIP. Carrasco has also struck out nearly 10 batters per nine innings and is coming off a career high 226 strike outs this past season.

Honorable Mentions:

Jacob DeGrom, Kyle Hendricks, Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray, Zack Greinke

Featured picture taken from SI.com

The Worst Starting Pitchers in Red Sox History

Red Ruffing

Ruffing tops my list for what he did with the team versus what he did after leaving. Ruffing spent five full seasons in Boston and parts of two others. During that time he won 39 games against 96 losses! Despite this record of 57 games under .500, he ended up making the Hall of Fame. Yes, he is one of the weaker members in the Hall of Fame and probably doesn’t belong in there, but it goes to show what he did after.

After going 39-96 with a 4.61 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, just wretched numbers all around, Ruffing was sent to the Yankees. He ended up winning 231 games over parts of 15 seasons with the Yankees. He won 20 games in four consecutive seasons to close out the 1930’s. Ruffing certainly benefited from a potent Yankees lineup, but he pitched much better with the Yankees. That is why this bum comes in at number one.

Red Ruffing of the Boston Red Sox throwing a ball in 1925. (Photo by Sporting New and Rogers Photo Archive via Getty Images)

Daisuke Matsuzaka

It might seem strange to have a guy who finished in the top five of a Cy Young vote at number 2, but he earned it. Daisuke sat on the Red Sox roster, overpaid, for six seasons. Not wanting to lose on their investment, the Red Sox tried to fit him into the rotation year after year, deserving or not. Including the posting fee, Matsuzaka cost the Red Sox over 100 million dollars. For all that he only won 50 games.

Daisuke was one of the most hyped pitchers I have ever witnessed. He came from Japan with a “gyro ball” and a bunch of other phantom pitches he didn’t actually throw. He was also the most frustrating pitcher I have ever watched, nibbling a couple of inches off the plate once he got to two strikes and seemingly going 3-2 on every batter. As a result, Daisuke rarely went deep into games. In fact, in his good season with the team, 2008, Matsuzaka only averaged 5.2 innings pitched per start. Even when he was good, Daisuke taxed the bullpen and relied on them to close out his wins for several innings.

After winning 33 games over his first two seasons in the states, Daisuke won 17 over his last four seasons with Boston. During that stretch he was 17-22 with a 5.53 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. He also walked 4.5 batters per nine innings during that stretch. He was paid 37 million during those four years, on top of the high posting fee the Red Sox had to pay to even negotiate with him.

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	GS	CG	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	HBP	WHIP	BB9	SO9
2007	BOS	15	12	4.40	32	1	204.2	191	100	80	201	13	1.324	3.5	8.8
2008	BOS	18	3	2.90	29	0	167.2	128	54	94	154	7	1.324	5.0	8.3
2009	BOS	4	6	5.76	12	0	59.1	81	38	30	54	2	1.871	4.6	8.2
2010	BOS	9	6	4.69	25	0	153.2	137	80	74	133	8	1.373	4.3	7.8
2011	BOS	3	3	5.30	7	0	37.1	32	22	23	26	1	1.473	5.5	6.3
2012	BOS	1	7	8.28	11	0	45.2	58	42	20	41	3	1.708	3.9	8.1
2013	NYM	3	3	4.42	7	0	38.2	32	19	16	33	5	1.241	3.7	7.7
2014	NYM	3	3	3.89	9	0	83.1	62	36	50	78	6	1.344	5.4	8.4
BOS	BOS	50	37	4.52	116	1	668.1	627	336	321	609	34	1.418	4.3	8.2

Jeff Suppan

In the nineties Jeff Suppan was a highly touted Red Sox prospect. A 2nd round pick of the team in 1993, Suppan climbed up the ladder successfully. He breezed through both A ball and AA before continuing his success in AAA, leading to his status as the Red Sox top pitching prospect. Suppan made the majors at the age of 20, which might have led to his not panning out. He had some level of success later on, but over parts of three seasons with the Sox to start his career, he posted a 5.99 ERA over 39 games.

After being okay with Kansas City, Suppan went to the Pirates in 2003. In Pittsburgh he won 10 games with a 3.57 ERA. So, what did the Red Sox do? They traded top prospect Freddy Sanchez amongst others to bring him back for the stretch run. Suppan failed the Red Sox again, posting a 5.57 ERA and being left off the playoff roster. He left for the Cardinals in the offseason and had his two best seasons of his career. In 2004 he finally did the best thing he ever did for the Red Sox; he got picked off third base by David Ortiz in the World Series as part of a double play.

Jeff Suppan of the Boston Red Sox throws against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 7, 2003. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Matt Young

Boston brought in Matt Young with talks of his “great arm”. Despite control problems and underwhelming numbers, the Red Sox gave Young a three-year contract for 6.35 million, big money in those days. Young was coming off a season with 18 losses, although his 3.51 ERA wasn’t so bad. However, since his all-star appearance in his rookie season, Young had gone 40-63 with a 4.52 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Those are some pretty bad numbers for the 1980’s. Despite this, the Red Sox felt strongly enough in Young’s left arm they gave him a big contract,

Young is most famous for throwing a no-hitter that doesn’t count as one. In April of 1992 he threw an 8 inning no-hitter against the Indians. The reason it doesn’t go into the record books as a no-hitter is because he only pitched eight innings. The reason he only pitched eight innings, well, he lost. Matt Young walked seven batters that day and the Red Sox lost 2-1. This game pretty much sums up Young’s career.

Despite a three-year contract, the Sox released Young before the 1993 season began, getting two seasons out of him. In those two seasons Young was 3-11 with a 4.91 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Young walked 5.4 batters per nine innings pitched.

Matt Young of the Boston Red Sox before a game on April 20, 1991 at Fenway Park.(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Steve Avery

Avery came to the Red Sox following a successful stint with the Atlanta Braves. In Atlanta, he teamed with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz to form perhaps the best rotation in baseball. Avery won 72 games with a 3.83 ERA for the Braves over seven seasons. There were reasons to be skeptical however, as Avery’s play had dropped off in recent seasons. From 1991-93 he went 47-25 with a stellar 3.17 ERA. After a decent strike season, Avery fell off the next two years, going 14-23 with a 4.58 ERA. The Red Sox, needing help in their rotation, and a left-hander, signed Avery to a 4.85 million dollar contract with a second year vesting option.

Avery was brutal in 1997 for the Sox, finishing with a 6.42 ERA and 1.82 WHIP. One start shy of his option vesting for 1998, the Red Sox took him out of the rotation. The next month however, not agreeing with the morality of the move, Jimy Williams started Steve Avery for one final game, causing his option to take hold. Avery did do better his second season, going 10-7. He still was not good though, with a 5.02 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. In fact, Avery walked more batters than he struck out that season, 64 to 57. So his two-year totals with his fat contract came to a 5.64 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and -0.7 WAR.

Steve Avery leaves the game after giving up seven runs to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 3rd inning. (TOM MIHALEK/AFP/Getty Images)

Dishonorable Mention:

Mike Smithson, Vaughn Eshelman, John Smoltz, Mike Torrez, Matt Clement, Brian Rose, Gordon Rhodes, Jack Russell

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