Porcello’s Performance

Like most of you, I assume, I've been spending a lot of time lately watching highlights of the Red Sox 2018 playoff run. Whether that's highlights I can find online or, more recently, the official World

Series DVD I can't get enough. It's fun to watch everything over again without the stress of wondering what it would all mean. The loss in game three, and Eovaldi’s performance, is easier to appreciate when you know it doesn't kill the pitching staff and lead to the Sox demise. (As amazing as the performance was, since the Sox lost all it really did was blow their best reliever and save Drew Pomeranz. Hindsight being 20/20, it would have been better to put Pom in there and let him finish it, and save Eovaldi. But, that's a moot point now.) You can also pick up on things that you may have missed since they weren't as obvious as Eovaldi, Pearce, and Price.

For instance, the number of highlights Rick Porcello shows up in.

I feel like he was a bit of a forgotten man for the Red Sox this postseason. For the whole season, really. For a guy who won the Cy Young just two seasons ago, that's quite a feat. Maybe his two subpar seasons in a Sox uniform caused fans to give up on him. Or, at least give up on trying to figure him out. He can just do his thing, and whatever we get out of him will be great. He's not the presumed ace like Sale, and he's not highly paid like Price. He can just pitch.

And, pitch he did.

Did you know he won 17 games this season? Second most in his career. And while wins don't mean as much as people like to think, it does mean he pitched well enough to keep his team in good position during most of the games he pitched. He then seemed to improve on that in the postseason.

His overall postseason numbers don't jump out at you, but that's because he was too busy being invaluable to the team to worry about things like statistics.

In the very first series, he showed he was willing to do whatever was needed, when he originated the “rover” role. I think most of us were surprised when he got the eighth inning of game one, since that meant he probably wasn't starting game three. All he did was get the two outs the Sox needed. He then came back and pitched well enough in his start to get the win in the game four series clincher.

Next series? More of the same. He got the key outs and a hold in game 2 in relief, and still took his turn as a starter. Now, I think he stretched himself a bit too thin, and his start suffered from it. But, the Sox still won the game.

I think by the World Series, he was getting spent. He didn’t appear in the first two games of the series. So, he was much fresher for his game three start...and it showed. He only made it into the fifth, but he was much sharper only allowing the single run. Of course, we all forgot about that after Eovaldi finished the game out.

It was also evident from the World Series DVD that his teammates respect the heck out of him, which isn’t something I quite realized. He’s clearly a leader of that staff...if not the clubhouse itself.

I’m glad watching these highlights brought me to this appreciation for him. Some other players may have been flashier, or had better stories. But, the Sox aren’t world champs without Rick Porcello.

It makes me even more excited for 2019.

Another Championship Grid Addition!

You've heard me talk about it before. Long before Alex Cora started doing it. Way back when Boston sports teams only had nine championships this century. How cool would it be to create a display on your wall displaying a picture from each of those championships in a tidy grid. Pretty cool, right? But, which pictures to choose? It can't all be “last play” since baseball is the only sport that really has one of those that you'd remember...other than a couple Super Bowls. It shouldn't be “opening” pitch/tip/face off/kick since those would all look pretty much the same. So, that might be a bit dull. So, my idea would be to take the most lasting memory from each championship and add it to the hypothetical wall. For instance, the Malcolm Butler interception, as opposed to the last Brady kneel down.

So, lucky fans that we are, we get to make that decision again. What picture would be the one that you remember most from the 2018 World Series. Or, maybe even the playoff run? What would I pick? Hard to say.

Nothing jumps immediately to mind. Well, that's not entirely true. My first thought was a picture of Sale striking out Machado to win the series. This would be a great choice for several reasons. First, it's Chris Sale and he's awesome. It also illustrates how Cora used his starting pitchers out of the bullpen so effectively during the series, and the playoffs in general. It also shows Machado looking completely foolish...which is always fun. (Unless you're Dustin Pedroia) But, to go along with my reluctance to use the final pitch...how about some other options?

I like the image right after the final out of David Price as third man into the group hug on the mound. Price and Sale pictured celebrating a championship is really pretty well defining the season. But...a celebration shot? Not my favorite idea.

For mid game options? How about a shot of Steve Pearce pointing to the dugout after one of his many series home runs. The complete joy on his face certainly reflected my emotions at the time. Plus, it would be a way to celebrate his unexpected contributions. Along those same lines, how about the image of Joe Kelly screaming as he came off the mound in game five. Not only does it show that same shared emotion, but it would represent the complete turnaround for him and the bullpen from the regular season to the playoffs. In August, how many would have predicted him triumphantly storming off the mound in a World Series clinching game?

What else?

I think a picture of David Price would certainly be worthy. Perhaps him touching his chest as he left the mound in game five? As the person who had the most to lose, who ended up winning the most he was certainly the story of the series.

Or Nathan Eovaldi? I love the idea of celebrating this out of nowhere hero. My only problem is that there isn't really one moment that sticks out in my head. Plus, his biggest contribution to the series came in Boston’s only loss. So that would seem weird.

There's Mookie’s game five home run. A significant moment for the best player in baseball as he added an important insurance run in the clincher. Or, JD Martinez’s, for almost the same reason.

Or is there something else I'm forgetting?

I think if I had to pick, I keep going back to Sale striking out Machado. Price walking off the mound is nagging at me, but the Sale picture just encompasses too many storylines in one shot. It would have to go up in my grid.

What picture would be added to your grid? What would you have chosen for the other ten championships?

Leave a comment and let us all pick your selections apart!

The Boston Red Sox are the World Champions!

For the first time in five years!

What a feeling. What a game. What a team!

There's so much that can and should be said about this team that I can't cover it all right now. (But, don't you worry I will at some point.) There are some things, though, that just need to be talked about now. Like last night's clinching game.

I've often said that the definition of “clutch” as “late and close” is somewhat misleading. There can be clutch home runs prior to the seventh inning. Steve Pearce proved that last night. His home run three batters into the game did more than give the Red Sox a first inning lead. It was crushing to the soul of theDodgers. They're in an elimination scenario. They have their ace on the mound, so they at least have some hope. Then, bam, they're down two runs before fans have found their seats. If there's a way to lose a game before it starts, that was it. A one-hundred percent clutch “here we go again” home run in the top of the first inning. Incredible.

Speaking of clutch first inning home runs, the Dodgers tried to get one of their own when they led off their game with a home run on the first pitch. (Thereby making Pearce’s home run even more clutch looking back.) That, of course, could have been crushing for the Sox. A momentum shift to be sure. And, admit it, part of you wondered if it was going to rattle Price. OK, all of you wondered if it would rattle Price. But, it didn’t. New Price didn't let it get to him, and just shut the door on the Dodgers without allowing another run. This isn't your father’s David Price.

Or, what about the “triple” to right field that JD Martinez lost in the sky? That was going to be it, right? A guy who was in the lineup only for his bat, which had been missing for a while, makes a mistake like that. Once again, fans were probably thinking that was it. It was Buckner in there for his bat costing the team with his glove. And specifically for Price, you could almost see it in his head. “I'm finally pitching well, and he does THAT!?!?” Another perfect opportunity to unravel. The odds failing Price again. But, no. He retired the next two batters, and left the guy standing at third base. Two chances to fall apart turned into two chances for Price to simply stand up taller instead.

The key bats returned just in time. We had been wondering where Mookie and JD were hiding. They had allowed the bottom of the order to do a lot of the heavy lifting this far. But, they came back with a key home run each late in the game. Key for a couple reasons. For one, in a clinching game you can never have too many insurance runs. Make it as easy as possible on the bullpen to close out the game. But personally too, it was nice to see them chip in. Mookie didn't end the series going 0-15 or whatever. He hit a key home run in the clincher. That has to feel good, and makes his stat sheet look more respectable. I am especially glad in his case, since it looked like he was coming around, and hitting the ball harder. It would have been too bad if he ran out of time before he found his swing again. JD looked more lost at the plate. But it was still nice to have him end on such a positive. Next year, they'll have something to build on.

After Price’s magnificent start, the game was turned over to another new pitcher, “Playoff Joe Kelly”. Kelly continued his newly remembered dominance and struck out the side. Amazing.

The last inning was handled by Chris Sale. So, apparently he was healthy after all. I was worried that the ball would go to Craig Kimbrel. While he had rediscovered his dominance, in his outing during game four he looked TIRED! I was afraid he would get to close out the game because he “deserved” to close, even if he wasn’t the right guy at the time. After all, he probably had pretty good numbers in Cora’s binder. But, Cora actually played this one by ear. (Unless Sale’s numbers were even better, which is possible.) He slammed the door by striking out the side himself. He even created the best finishing moment since Papelbon levitated with his hands on his head. The image of Manny Machado falling to a knee after being embarrassed by the pitch pretty much summed up the series for him and the Dodgers.

So the best regular season team is the best playoff team as well. It was an amazing ride through an incredible season and I can’t wait to keep talking about it in the months to come.

What was your favorite moment?