Former Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz has signed a one-year deal with the San Fransico Giants worth $1.5 million. For the Red Sox, this is a classic case of addition by subtraction; the team is far better off without him. And I’m not the only one who noticed.
Drew Pomeranz sucks. I don’t care if he’s had “quality starts” this year. He will always suck
— Steve Perrault (@Steve_Perrault) May 10, 2017
Red Sox World Series Parade vs Drew Pomeranz Is Gone Parade pic.twitter.com/gh3IewOJRN
— Kevin Wells (@Kjwells92) January 23, 2019
Drew Pomeranz will join former Sox teammate Pablo Sandoval on the San Francisco Giants
or as I’ll consider them from now on, the San Francisco Garbage Disposals
— Gabrielle (@gfstarr1) January 23, 2019
Pomeranz was acquired in 2016 from the Padres in exchange for Anderson Espinoza, a top-20 prospect at the time. While Pomeranz was having a dominant season at the time he signed with the Red Sox, the major risk was his durability. In his prior seasons, both major and minor league, Pomeranz was never given an intense workload: as shown by his single-season innings totals of 112 2/3 (2013), 115 1/3 (2014) and 88 (2015). Moreover, it was later discovered that the Padres had hidden information about injury treatment Pomeranz was receiving. (Foreshadowing, anybody?)
The remainder of the 2016 season was solid. I won’t call it great, but he got the job done with minimal glaring missteps. The following year, he won 17 games. Again, solid. Heading into 2018, the one-time All-Star had every opportunity to be successful. Unfortunately, he did little to benefit the World Series champions.
To say the least, 2018 Pomeranz was a disappointment. I won’t sugar coat it; he was borderline terrible with the exception of a few decent starts early on. It was clear that he was struggling with both control and velocity, clocking in with fastballs around 89mph. After struggling as a starter, he was moved to the bullpen (which already had problems of its own). Thanks to his inability to perform and a few injuries, his innings pitched decreased from 173 in 2017 to 74 in 2018. He started a mere 17 games. His efforts on the mound amounted to a cringe-worthy 6.08 ERA and he did not play in a single game during the postseason.
Those are just the numbers. I can pinpoint the exact game I really gave up on this guy. September 22, 2018. Boston vs. Cleveland. The Red Sox had just won the American League East title and they needed just one more win to clinch the home field advantage. Life was good.
Rick Porcello started the game off on a shaky foot, giving up three earned runs in five innings. The Sox were able to put up two runs of their own in the third and fourth innings, bringing the score to 4-2 Cleveland heading into the eighth. A two-run single from Andrew Benintendi tied the game up at 4-4.
The bullpen started off great; Robby Scott, Brian Johnson, and Joe Kelly pitched a combined scoreless five innings as the game climbed into extra innings. Considering the bullpen was fairly inconsistent at this point in the season, I was surprisingly feeling more confident than usual that the Sox would be able to pull it off. I was very wrong.
Enter Drew Pomeranz in the bottom of the eleventh. This game has now entered the wee hours of the night. The guy could not record one single out. He gave up a pair of singles to Cleveland’s Yan Gomes and Greg Allen before Alex Cora elected to intentionally walk Francisco Lindor (who absolutely would have cracked one off Pomeranz). With the infield in and no outs, Michael Brantley stepped in and hit the game-winning single, securing a 5-4 Indians win. Just like that, Pomeranz ruined what was almost a spectacular outing by the bullpen.
All I can say is, thank god Alex Cora did not let this man see the light of day in October; he had no business appearing in the postseason. When I found out he signed with the Giants, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I’m sick of watching him, talking about him, and writing about him.
Congrats to the Giants, who got what they wanted: a veteran pitcher. I would argue they don’t even need him to be good, they just need him to not be garbage. We will never see 2014-2016 Pomeranz ever again, but if he can stay healthy, I’m sure San Fran will get their $1.5 million worth. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the $8.5 million he cashed from the Red Sox last year. My final words to Pomeranz: goodbye and good riddance.
