Rick Porcello is on the right track
If this was a season at the crossroads for Rick Porcello, it appears that he’s taken the right turn.
Porcello pitched seven shutout innings in Friday night’s 4-0 win over the Minnesota Twins, and the Detroit Tigers received their 14th consecutive quality start.
By becoming a four-pitch pitcher, Porcello has begun sparkling just as much as the four aces atop the rotation: Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Justin Verlander and Doug Fister.
Porcello is 2-1 with a 1.33 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 30 strikeouts with only four walks in 27 innings pitched over his last four starts.
“He was terrific,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland told FOX Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson after the game at Target Field in Minneapolis. “He kept the ball on the ground. They are not sitting just on his fastball anymore.”
Porcello’s vastly improved curve and slider have been central to his turnaround this season. Those pitches allow him to keep hitters off balance rather than relying on his fastball, sinker and the sub-par slider he threw last season.
“His changeup and curveball have been contributing very much to his recent success,” Leyland said recently. “His repertoire has gone up ... and that’s a big factor.
“He’s figured it out. Talent gets you here; making adjustments keeps you here.”
Porcello was Detroit’s first-round pick as a New Jersey high school pitcher in 2007, and in 2009 he was 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA in Detroit. However, his ERA approached 5.00 the last three years, and he had to earn the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training.
After a stellar Grapefruit League showing, he was 0-2 with an 11.08 ERA in his first four starts. Then he began commanding all of his pitches, mixing them well and making hitters uneasy.
He junked the slider in spring training and then got humming on his two off-speed pitches. FOX Sports Detroit analyst Rod Allen noted that opponents are hitting .186 against his curve and changeup this season.
“It’s obviously nice to have four guys ahead of me that throw the ball the way they do,” Porcello said recently. “I think this year I’ve learned more from watching those guys pitch than I have in years past because now I have the ability to throw some of those pitches that they’re throwing — changeups and breaking balls behind in the count.
“I can kind of feed off that a little bit more than maybe I have in years past because my stuff is further along than it has been.”
Porcello told me that he is now confident enough to throw any of his four pitches in any count.
“It’s a nice feeling to have,” he added.
It’s the difference between struggling and succeeding.
“I feel good about what I’m doing,” Porcello said after beating the Twins.
He said his changeup wasn’t as consistent as it had been recently, but credited his sinker.
Porcello’s last five outs all came on grounders, but four of his first five outs came on his only strikeouts in this game.
“He had a nice little breaking ball that kept us off balance,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Twins designated hitter Josh Willingham (.538) and third baseman Jamey Carroll (.409) had feasted on Porcello in the past, but both were 0 for 3 against him Friday night. Willingham struck out twice. Porcello’s beginning to turn the tables.
He’s 4-3 with a 4.37 ERA, and that’s not bad. But toss out the nine runs allowed in 2/3 inning on April 20 against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., and he would have a 3.25 ERA. Opponents are batting .212 against Porcello in his last nine starts.
Allen said that Porcello, 24, could be a “huge winner” in his career. He already has 52 wins, and Allen speculated that 150 to 200 could be expected.
FIELDER CONTINUES DOMINANCE
It was scoreless Friday until the top of the sixth inning, when Gardenhire elected to have lefty starter Scott Diamond walk Miguel Cabrera to face left-handed hitter Prince Fielder with runners on first and second and two out.
Fielder crushed a two-run double, and now an amazing 46 percent of his RBIs (25 of 54) have come following a walk to Cabrera. He’s batting .486 in those situations.
“I made a decision to walk a guy and it didn’t work out too well,” Gardenhire said.
Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta followed with run-scoring doubles, and provided a comfortable lead.
Fielder is hitting .375 off lefties this year after batting a strong enough .289 against them last season. He credits Detroit’s addition of left-handed batting practice pitchers for his increased proficiency.