Boston Red Sox: Drew Pomeranz continues to be an overall disaster

The Boston Red Sox were on the brink of clinching home field advantage for the entire 2018 playoffs on Saturday night. Instead, Drew Pomeranz struggles once again in a 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

The Boston Red Sox came into Saturday night having already won the AL East title. Up against the Cleveland Indians, Alex Cora’s squad needed one win to clinch home field advantage for the entire 2018 postseason.

Unfortunately, Boston couldn’t pull it off, losing 5-4 in eleven innings of play.

Pitching inconsistencies

Starting pitcher Rick Porcello looked inconsistent, throwing only five innings, and giving up three earned runs on eight hits. This outing continues what has been a lousy last fifteen games for the former Cy Young winner, where he’s had a 5.23 ERA during that time period, according to MLB.com (he’s also given up 49 earned runs throughout that same time period).

Cleveland ran out to a 4-2 lead after both teams traded runs in the third and fourth innings. The Sox were able to tie it in the eighth off of an Andrew Benintendi two-run single. It was the left fielder’s first and only hit of the game, and helped temporarily break him out of a seven-game slump he’s currently in (where he’s only posted a .182 average).

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The Boston Red Sox bullpen, usually a focal point of disastrous occurrences, actually held strong. Robby Scott, Brian Johnson, and Joe Kelly pitched a combined five scoreless innings (although Johnson did run into trouble in the bottom of the tenth when he walked his first two batters faced). Nonetheless, Boston went into the eleventh unscathed.

After a scoreless top half, things started to go downhill.

Drew Pomeranz came in for the bottom of the eleventh, and couldn’t even record an out. After two singles by Cleveland’s Yan Gomes and Greg Allen, Cora elected to intentionally walk the red-hot Francisco Lindor. Unfortunately, with the infield in and no outs, Michael Brantley looped the game-winning single to the left field wall, thus finishing off a 5-4 win, and preventing another celebration from the Boston Red Sox faithful.

After a rough start to the season as a starter, Drew Pomeranz was sent to the bullpen, where he’s struggled even more. His 6.37 ERA in 2018 represents the worst he’s been since he was 24 years-old and with the Colorado Rockies (where he posted a 6.23 ERA). He’ given up a whopping nine earned runs and eighteen hits in his past nine innings pitched, which is an incredible two hits per inning.

Considering all of those appearances happened to be in the bullpen, I think it’s safe to say Pomeranz hasn’t been necessarily good of late.

He’s always had control issues (he’s the king of pitching five innings and having 120 pitches), but it’s becoming even more evident now. His velocity is way down as well, especially his fastball, which only clocks out at around 89 mph (the league average is 93).

Drew Pomeranz isn’t the only one who’s struggled in this bullpen either.

According to ESPN, the Sox have been in the bottom ten for bullpen ERA the past week, which isn’t a great sign considering October is right around the corner. The New York Yankees and Houston Astros have also started to click (specifically a big series win from New York this past week against Boston).

Cora’s squad needs to be on high alert over the next couple of weeks, especially if they want to avoid a repeat of 2017’s ending.

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For all the hype, Boston is definitely a very flawed 105-50 team. They’ve lost to good teams a lot in 2018, and their bullpen has been inconsistent for the most part.

Their bats, and Sale’s Cy Young-caliber performance continue to be the reason for their unheralded success. Hopefully, the organization can fix their mistakes before it’s too late again.

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