Pitcher who gets to Strut
Rick Porcello is finally rounding back into form following a dismal first half of the season. He’s still a far cry from last year’s Cy Young level, but the 3.77 ERA that Porcello has posted since the break is more in line with what we should expect.
The right-hander won both of his starts last week. He gave up three runs over seven innings to defeat the Cardinals on Tuesday. The best part about that outing is that he kept the ball in the park – only the eighth time in 26 starts that Porcello hasn’t allowed at least one home run.
Five days later he beat the Yankees, holding New York’s powerful lineup to only one run over six innings. He did cough up a homer for that lone run, but solo shots aren’t going to be his downfall. It’s the multi-run homers that will doom a pitcher, which Porcello has managed to avoid in his last few starts.
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Porcello has won each of his last four starts, in stark contracts to losing the previous four in July. Porcello had gone nearly six weeks between wins, entering August with a measly four this season. He has since doubled that total and has a reasonable shot at cracking double-digits. Fighting his way back to the .500 mark can’t be ruled out if he can keep this momentum going.