Porcello Skipping His Next Start

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 6, 2009 5:50 PM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

Yesterday against the Twins, Rick Porcello looked like a pitcher who might need a break. The rookie was roughed up for six runs (four earned, thanks to Adam Everett's error) and seven hits in four innings. And in that decisive six-run fourth inning, he looked rattled for the first time all season.

The Detroit Tigers apparently agree. Jason Beck reports on his blog that the team will skip Porcello's next turn in the rotation - helped by Thursday's off-day - and give him a rest until after the All-Star break.

Porcello is winless in his last three starts, giving up 11 runs in his 13.1 innings. The 20-year-old's workload has been an ongoing concern throughout the season, and the Tigers have been watching his innings and pitch counts closely. Now at 87 innings, the team is taking a chance to sit him down for a bit.

Jim Leyland emphasized to the media that this wasn't a reflection on Porcello's recent performance:

"We always said all along we were going to pick our spots to protect him," manager Jim Leyland said. "It has nothing to do with yesterday's performance, I can tell you that. ... To be honest with you, I'm sure he doesn't like it, but it's what we're going to do to protect him."

Beck adds in his blog post that with two additional off-days in the week following the All-Star break, the Tigers could keep Porcello out of the rotation until July 24 if they so chose.

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Rest is good, but let's all chill out

Porcello is basically being instructed to pitch to contact and induce groundballs in order to make his starts as efficient as possible. That’s a fine strategy to limit the kid’s innings and keep him effective but it’s also a strategy that teeters on the edge when that contact produces a hit that finds a hole or drops in. Contact pitchers need a decent amount of luck and Porcello ran out of it over the past few starts. He isn’t gassed. He hasn’t even reached his IP total from Lakeland in 2008.

Giving him as much extra rest as is appropriate is a good strategy but some people should back off from telling his readers that “fatigue is setting in” after only 87 freaking IP.

by MacRae on Jul 6, 2009 6:04 PM EDT reply actions

+1

Great post. I completely agree.

by qbdoyle1 on Jul 6, 2009 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't agree

I had just been thinking that he might get a rest before/during/after the All-Star break… mainly because of his recent performance. This will be a good time for the young man to prepare for his first Major League pennant chase.

"Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence."
-Augustine

by toledomudhen on Jul 6, 2009 7:48 PM EDT reply actions

what exactly are we disagreeing on here?

by MacRae on Jul 6, 2009 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that Porcello will follow the Clayton Kershaw route that the Dodgers have been using – granted I think that Porcello is more advanced for his age than Kershaw so his innings can be upped slightly say ~150IP, but next year and maybe the year after that will also bring some amount of watching for high pitch counts, and limiting the Innings Pitched somewhat… by age 24 the kid will be set loose to do his dirty work on the American League – bright future ahead, just hard to be patient when that future is so bright. Look for the K totals to increase as the successive year’s IP increase as well.

by Bluethunder33 on Jul 7, 2009 3:38 PM EDT reply actions