After making 13 starts for the Boston Red Sox after coming from the San Diego Padres via trade, Drew Pomeranz is done with rotation pitching for the season, which puts his place on the postseason roster in doubt.
Pomeranz has pitched 169.1 innings this season; 102 in San Diego, 67.1 with the Red Sox. He’s complained about soreness in his arm after his most recent start (September 23, W vs the Rays). Before this season he never pitched more than 97 innings in an entire season, which explains why he’s so unaccustomed to this kind of physical workload.
Pomeranz hasn’t really changed the world in Boston. After a 2.47 ERA for the Padres in 17 starts, which included a 1.059 WHIP and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings, he did worse than that with the Red Sox. In 13 starts, he posted a 4.68 ERA and a 1.396 WHIP, his worst numbers since 2013. The strikeouts slightly decreased (9.2 per nine innings), but his k/bb ratio remained the same, and even slightly better, up from 2.80 to 2.88.
As we mentioned, the Red Sox aren’t ruling him out for the postseason. He will make bullpen appearances until the end of the season, which isn’t new to him. He played in 53 games last season for the Oakland Athletics, only nine of them starts. After struggling getting their rotation in order during the season, the Red Sox know who their trio of starting pitchers will be for the playoffs. Pomeranz, who made his first All-Star game this season, will try to fit in with his tired arm in relief pitching.
David Price, Rick Porcello and Clay Buchholz will probably be the starting three in the postseason, although Buchholz only recently returned to the rotation after getting demoted for a poor first half to the season.