Red Sox Rick Porcello and David Price: A legacy of failure
By Rick McNair
A bitter reality has surfaced regarding the Red Sox vaunted twin aces – Rick Porcello and David Price – they both have historically failed when needed most.
The measurement for highly successful pitchers is twofold: The first is success during the regular season with the ultimate recognition being the prestigious Cy Young Award. The second is the ability to firmly cement your reputation by excellence in the post-season. Curt Schilling is the most recognizable name in recent Boston history for pitching heroics when it counted most.
Rick Porcello will undoubtedly win the Cy Young Award for American League hurlers. Statistically, he is among the very best and just couple that with a team that won 93 games. The award is based on regular season performance and team performance does leak into the voting equation – consciously or subconsciously.
Where Porcello has failed is his dip into the post-season. Porcello’s record is 0-3 with a 5.66 ERA. The debacle of the opening game certainly will attract attention for those who wish to at least partially dismiss his season-long performance.
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David Price has started 14 games in the post-season with a dismal 2-7, 5.12 record. All seven losses came as a starter and that would make even mediocre more acceptable. Price has simply been a failure, dud and pitching piñata when it counted most. Price continued that dismal trend against the Indians with five earned runs in 3.1 innings.
Price has long been touted as an “ace” and that is debatable – at least from my perspective. Ace during the regular season and a failure in the fall season. There are certainly dubious analogies to describe both Prices’ and Porcello’s failures – and that is exactly where we are and have witnessed from both. A pitching disaster that even FEMA could not leand assistance.
In 2008 Price surfaced in the playoffs as a 22-year-old wunderkind who dazzled the Red Sox in three relief appearances – just ask Jason Varitek. The next venture into the playoffs against Boston Mr. Price was lit up like the lighthouse at Alexandria. Seven innings and seven runs allowed to the future World Series champions.
You pay the elite pitchers and position players to get you there. During the regular season you expect exactly what Price and Porcello have accomplished – win games and go deep into those games. The same applies to position players who you expect to contribute during the scrum to the playoffs with performances commensurate with their historic numbers.
In the playoffs, you expect that to continue – maybe not as pronounced as David Ortiz and Madison Bumgarner, but certainly, not as pedestrian as the very strong sample of Porcello’s and Prices’ contributions have shown. Both have failed when needed most and that will be attached to their legacy like PED’s are to a long list of players.
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The Red Sox are now facing the uncomfortable prospect of elimination. The future rests on the pitching abilities of Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez – neither provides any substantive reasons for a cheery outcome.
Buchholz is a veteran most noted for career inconsistencies that simply defy any attempt to bring forward a glimmer of promise. Buchholz has five career starts in the post-season with a 0-0 record and a 4.21 ERA. Maybe this will be a defining moment for the much-maligned Buchholz? Personally, I would not go to one of the various betting sites and empty my wallet on the promise of Buchholz.
Rodriguez is another story – an incomplete story. One that may not be told based on what happens in game three. Rodriguez certainly has the ability based on his excellent performance since returning from Pawtucket exile, but E-Rod is prone to developing incredible streaks of poor control – a killer in any game situation – especially the playoffs.
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If the baseball Gods are kind to Boston and Buchholz and Rodriguez accomplish the unlikely that brings us full circle to Porcello. Porcello has the golden opportunity to be deemed a post-season failure or success based on his performance in a deciding game. Immense pressure – pressure that saw him fold like origami in game one.
Sources: Baseball-Reference.com