Baltimore Orioles: Room to Improve in AL East Starting Pitching Rankings
By Nate Wardle
2. Boston Red Sox – David Price, Rick Porcello, Steven Wright, Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz
Preseason prediction – 3rd, Price, Buchholz, Porcello, Rodriguez, Kelly, Wright, Henry Owens, Roenis Elias
The Red Sox had three pitchers who had an ERA under four and won double-digit games and having Rick Porcello win the Cy Young and go 22-4 never hurts. David Price also added 17 wins himself, and Steven Wright went 13-6, and at one point he was on track to be a Cy Young contender until he got hurt, as his ERA was 3.33. That was the good, and it was exquisite.
The bad included everyone else. Eduardo Rodriguez showed glimpses of getting back to his 2015 performance but finished 3-7 with a 4.71 ERA in 20 starts. Clay Buchholz struggled so much he was moved to the bullpen, and then back to the rotation. He went 8-10 with a 4.78 ERA.
Drew Pomeranz came to the Red Sox from the San Diego Padres, where he was 6-7 with a 2.47 ERA. After the trade, he went 3-5 for Boston with a 4.59 ERA. Whether it was fatigue or not, the deal did not go as planned (as many thought it might not).
Statistically, the Red Sox allowed 4.28 runs per game, well below the league average of 4.47. Their winning percentage in games with decisions for starting pitching was .574, and the team went 68-42 in those decisions, the most wins in the league. The starters averaged six innings pitched per game, which is above the league average and trails only Toronto in the American League. The team also had quality starts in 54 percent of starts.
Overall a good year for the Red Sox pitching, although the numbers were certainly top heavy, that is what aces do.