Pomeranz is out. Who's in?

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

Pom leaves his start today with a tight left tricep:


Luckily, Sox don't need a fifth starter for a couple weeks, by which time Price may be ready, but they do need a fourth starter.

Another Brian Johnson start? Back to Kendrick?

He's not on the 40-man, but Wright still is, so any chance they take a flyer on Beeks down in Portland? 27 straight shutout innings at the moment.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

They do need a fifth starter too. Saturday.
I'd guess we get another Brian Johnson start and then a wild card. Maybe Velazquez, who had another solid start yesterday.

 

[grimshaw]

I'd like to see Velazquez given a shot first. He has definitely earned it with 18 hits and 5 walks allowed in 29 innings and on OPS against of .476. Just one HR allowed too.

According to Soxprospects, adding a splitter last season is what contributed to his break out - albeit in the Mexican league.

 

[Byrdbrain]

Yeah it's between Johnson or Velazquez. One hit on Velaz. was that he wasn't throwing many pitches but his last two starts have finally gotten over 90 pitches. He isn't striking out a ton of guys but it isn't awful. It looks to me like he's earned a shot at it.
Johnson's numbers have been good but I've never been impressed with what I've seen.

 

[chawson]

Just call up Trey Ball, send him and Chris Sale out to lunch at Legal Sea Foods, and see what happens.

 

[soxhop411]

Pomeranz says it's a mechanical issue

BOSTON -- Drew Pomeranz left his start Sunday at Fenway Park after three innings with tightness in his left triceps, an omious development for a Red Sox rotation already missing David Price and Steven Wright. He’ll undergo an MRI on Monday to determine whether he has suffered any damage.

But Pomeranz expressed confidence he would be able to make his next start either Friday or Saturday in Oakland, blaming both the triceps discomfort and his diminished velocity on a mechanical flaw with which he has contended throughout his career. It was a similar mechanical flaw, he said, to the one on which he blamed an early exit from his first start in spring training. That was a similarly ominous episode that didn’t ultimately result in Pomeranz missing any time.

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20170514/drew-pomeranz-triceps-tightness-optimistic-hell-make-his-next-start

 

[InsideTheParker]

He has identified the mechanical flaw and yet it persists "throughout his career." . Something is wrong here. This guy needs help.
Is Brian Bannister still on the payroll?

 

[Cesar Crespo]

I imagine it's pretty normal for pitchers to struggle with their mechanics and reverting back to hold habits.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

My bad on the lack of need for a fifth starter. Thought I read that from Britton. So, off-day tomorrow, which skips the Kendrick spot. Price pitched a simulated game today and pronounced himself ready. But they've got to make him make at least one real Pawtucket start I would think

Mon: Off day
Tues: EdRod
Wed: Porcello
Thurs: Sale
Fri: Pomeranz claims he's going to be fine to make this (I'm doubtful), Price makes Bucket start
Sat: Mystery starter (Johnson/Velazquez)
Sun: EdRod
Mon: Off-day
Tues: Porcello
Wed: Sale
Thurs: Pomeranz (or Price)
Fri: EdRod
Sat: mystery starter (or Pomeranz)
Sun: Porcello
Mon: Sale

So, maybe not that awful?

 

[luckysox]

He has identified the mechanical flaw and yet it persists "throughout his career." . Something is wrong here. This guy needs help.
Is Brian Bannister still on the payroll?

He's all tall and lanky and lefty and moving parts and NOT Sale or Randy Johnson - recipe for mechanics getting out of whack. I was a defender of this move last season - in fact I was excited because I thought the Sox were catching him at a time where he had figured out the mechanical stuff and was about to hit a consistent point in his career. But he has not yet inspired much confidence. His first start this season was fantastic because it was unexpected. Since then, it's been "meh" or "yuck." I hope he can figure it out, because as frustrating as he is, the replacements don't look too exciting.

 

[doctorogres]

I'm still optimistic. I see 2 bad starts with bad home run luck (I remember 2 wrapped around the Pesky Pole in his first start against the Rays), 5 decent-to-good starts, and this last one where he was out of whack. 3.77 xFIP/SIERA and a career high in K/9. I would sign up for that for 180 IP.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Pete Abraham‏Verified account @PeteAbe 27m27 minutes ago
#RedSox say Drew Pomeranz’s MRI showed no changes. Joining the team in STL. No DL it seems.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

He's all tall and lanky and lefty and moving parts and NOT Sale or Randy Johnson - recipe for mechanics getting out of whack *snip*

Even RJ didn't figure out consistency until he was 29, and then only turned into a pitcher with great increasingly great consistency/command as his moved through his 30s. His age 27-28 seasons: 6.5 bb/9ip. Terrifying for LHH (led the league in HBP a couple times in there too). These long limbed types need a bunch of years to figure it out sometimes.

 

[Plympton91]

Pete Abraham‏Verified account @PeteAbe 27m27 minutes ago
#RedSox say Drew Pomeranz’s MRI showed no changes. Joining the team in STL. No DL it seems.

That's not exactly a reassuring characterization of his MRI. I've never seen it written that way before. "No changes" could easily mean, "the existing tear that will probably require surgery in the near future didn't get any bigger yet." I hope we aren't in for another John Lackey in 2011 year.