The 5 Boston Red Sox with the most to prove in 2018

3. SP Rick Porcello

My how the mighty have fallen. In 2016, Rick Porcello was a surprise and he took home the AL Cy Young Award with a 22-4 record, a 3.15 ERA, and 189 strikeouts. 2017 was a much different year for the right-hander. He posted a terrible 11-17 record and his ERA ballooned to 4.65. He allowed the most home runs in the league as well, with 38 long balls leaving the bats of his opponents.

No one expects Porcello to contend for Cy Young Award once again, and behind Chris Sale and David Price he won’t even need to be the best pitcher on the staff, but he does need to improve. Porcello may not even be in the lineup as the #3 pitcher in 2018, that could be Drew Pomeranz. Still, improvement is a must.

Boston would probably be happy if Pretty Ricky can just get back to the kinds of numbers he had in the 5 seasons from 2012 to 2016. In that time, he averaged a 14-12 record, 4.01 ERA, and 143 strikeouts per season. He also allowed an average of just 20 home runs per year as well.