Part two of this series is up where abs breaks down the stories in the rotation. Which one is most interesting to you?
David Price as the ace and his reverse splits?
David Price as the ace and his reverse splits?
Clay Buchholz and his alternating between half a season of ace-like production and mediocrity?As you can see in the chart from that article, he has gone from the standard splits of a left-handed pitcher to having reverse splits the past two seasons:
Which Rick Porcello are we going to see?We will be watching a hodgepodge of items as Buchholz’s 2016 season unfolds. Will he or won’t he return to the DL just as he’s pitching at the elite level like everyone knows he can? Will he remember to bring his old change up to the park again? Will he even remember how to throw his change?
Can Joe Kelly harness his stuff?Porcello started off last season with some solid outings and some really, really poor outings. There would be more bad outings to come. He was finally placed on the disabled list in early August, not to reappear on the mound for Boston until the end of the month. He finished the season well with only one more bad outing when he yielded five earned runs in six innings against Toronto on September 18.
Eduardo Rodriguez's continued development.Joe Kelly possesses some of the filthiest “stuff” in baseball. He features a 95-mph fastball that had people drooling about his potential. But one of his major problems is that with all of the natural movement, not even he knows the pitch’s final resting place.
Part three will cover the relievers. Part Four will touch on players who might make the club out of spring training as swingmen or might see call ups later in the season.Rodriguez was acquired in a 2014 trade with Baltimore and became a fan favorite with his first start in 2015after shutting out the Rangers in 7 2/3 IP, earning the win. Like most rookie pitchers, he had some rough outings as well. Pitch tipping was to blame for at least two of them.