Boston Red Sox Pitcher Rick Porcello Has Ace Potential

Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox endured heavy criticism after they failed to reach an agreement with veteran ace Jon Lester. They didn’t make a major splash to retaliate for the lost signing either, but instead added several minor pieces to hopefully fill the void.

With Spring Training set to open up in less than two weeks, many continue to question how the Red Sox will be able to contend with a rotation that lacks a big-name pitcher. One thing they do have is depth and quality depth at that.

Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly are the only two pitchers left over from last year’s roster that project to be a part of the starting rotation in 2015. Boston went out and added Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson to fill things out.

One of the five pitchers has to emerge as an ace, right? They all have had respectable success though out the course of their careers. Someone will be motivated by the doubt that has been directed toward the group, surprise the baseball world, and anchor the staff.

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I view Porcello as a legitimate candidate to emerge as the ace of the rotation this season. The 26-year-old had himself a career year in 2014 and he could be destined for greatness as a member of the Red Sox. Still at such a young age, Porcello is on the rise as he’s set to enter the prime years of his career.

Porcello made his big league debut in 2009 as a member of the Detroit Tigers at just 20 years of age. As he’s accumulated experience, the 6-foot-5 righty has become more durable with each passing year. Porcello posted career highs in wins, innings pitched and earned run average in 2014.

The 204.2 innings pitched was 22.2 innings more than Porcello’s previous high. His 3.43 ERA was 53 points lower than his previous best ERA. The career best 15 wins he tallied was a testament to his impressive strikeout to walk ratio. Porcello issued just 41 walks last year in comparison to 129 strikeouts.

Another overlooked talent that Porcello possesses is the ability to generate ground ball outs. Of the 840 batters he faced last year, 258 of them grounded out. Essentially one out of every three batters he faced was retired via the groundout. 30 of those batters grounded into double plays. Being able to keep pitches down in the zone will aid him, especially with the Green Monster looming out in left at Fenway.