Boston Red Sox: 3 reasons Drew Pomeranz is not worth keeping

1. He’s always been inconsistent

If you don’t believe me, just look at his career stats on Baseball-Reference. After posting three straight sub-par years with the Colorado Rockies from 2011-2013, where Drew Pomeranz mustered a 4-14 record, the southpaw improved immensely, to the point where he was an All Star in 2016.

After obtaining a modest 4.59 ERA in the second half of that same year with Boston, Pomeranz developed into a premier third-pitcher in the rotation in 2017, achieving a 17-6 record and a 3.32 ERA en route to one of his more solid years as an MLB starter.

This inconsistent run continued into 2018, where Pomeranz had to deal with injuries to his left shoulder. His innings pitched decreased from over 170 to 74 between 2017 and 2018, and as a result, Alex Cora had to find other ways to utilize him, mainly through the bullpen. As detailed by FanSided writer Rick McNair, the lefty’s fastball velocity went down by two ticks (91 to 89), and hitters were batting .297 against him. Not only that, but his 5.4 BB/9 ratio was one of the worst on the team.

All of a sudden, a guy who possibly looked like a max-contract type player, turned into someone who isn’t even worth the $8.5 million the Boston Red Sox were giving him. Cora could not figure out where to put him, so he decided not to use him in the playoffs. And it worked int he grand scheme of things.