Boston Red Sox Report Cards: Left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz

The BoSox Injection team is grading the 2018 season for each member of the Boston Red Sox. Up next is pitcher Drew Pomeranz.

Drew Pomeranz was probably the biggest disappointment on this Boston Red Sox team this season. He was on and off the disabled list for a lot of the season, and when he was healthy he wasn’t pitching well at all.

The Red Sox had high expectations for Pomeranz after he went 17-6 with a 3.32 ERA in 2017. He had the highest win percentage and the second lowest ERA of the Sox starters that season, becoming the number two starting pitcher while David Price struggled with injuries.

This season was a much different story, however.

Pomeranz finished the 2018 season with a 2-6 record, 6.08 ERA, and 1.77 WHIP while he pitched less than half the number of innings he pitched in 2017. He started the season on the DL, came back and lost his rotation spot, then ended up back on the DL for a while. After that, he just came in with big leads or big deficits to eat up innings.

This pretty much sums it all up: In 2017, Pomeranz had the 3rd highest WAR on the whole team at 3.9, while this season he had a -0.5 WAR, 3rd lowest on the team. He was really a disaster.

Postseason

After his absolutely horrific pitching during the regular season, it was a no-brainer to leave Pomeranz off the Red Sox postseason roster. And they did, until the World Series when it was decided to bring him aboard for the most important series of the season.

Many Sox fans, including myself, thought the report was a joke at first since Pomeranz was probably the worst pitcher on the team at the time. Even Drew said he was shocked to make the roster. But it was a reality, Pomeranz was a part of the World Series team.

Red Sox management justified the decision with the fact that the Dodgers struggled against left-handed pitching in the regular season, Pomeranz had good stats against many of the Dodgers hitters, and he was pitching better in practice. However, I still would have gone with lefties Bobby Poyner or Brian Johnson over Drew.

Luckily, Pomeranz didn’t pitch at all in the World Series. He actually ended up being a pretty good cheerleader in the bullpen, encouraging his teammates and cheering them on.

Grade

It’s pretty obvious Pomeranz doesn’t deserve any kind of good grade. He was a disappointment in every aspect and came nowhere near our expectations for him. He made every Red Sox fan nervous whenever he came in the game to pitch and just looked uncomfortable on the mound all season long. He struggled to get batters out and looked like he didn’t know where the ball would end up after it left his hand. None of his pitches were fooling batters at all. It’s hard to find a weak link on a championship-winning team, but Drew Pomeranz certainly was one. I think it’s safe to say that Big Smooth wasn’t all that smooth this season.

Looking Ahead to 2019

Luckily for Red Sox fans, Pomeranz is a free agent. I definitely don’t think he’s worth re-signing, especially if the Sox re-sign Eovaldi. Pomeranz doesn’t really have a place on this team anymore, and he’s too much of a risk with his inconsistency and injury history. His velocity has fallen off and he hadn’t been getting too many swings and misses. Plus, he’ll be turning 30 on November 22nd, so he’s past the prime years for most pitchers.

The Red Sox would be better off letting him walk and using the $6 million Jon Heyman projects Pomeranz would get, to re-sign Joe Kelly, Steve Pearce, Nathan Eovaldi, and hopefully Craig Kimbrel.

Regardless of where Pomeranz ends up next season, this season for him was atrocious. He failed in almost every situation he was put in and his stats reflect his awful performance this year. Plus he looked like he didn’t want to be out there, as he constantly had a miserable or confused look on his face. The same look many Sox fans had watching him pitch.