It's easy to overreact to one game in a baseball season. Monday night was a perfect example.
The Red Sox break their eight-game losing streak by beating a Major League Baseball team (we think) called the Kansas City Royals, 7-5, at Fenway Park. The win coincided with all three of the teams the Sox are chasing for a Wild Card berth -- Cleveland, Oakland and Tampa Bay -- losing, putting Alex Cora's club 5 1/2 games out of the race to participate in a play-in game.
The tide has turned (or at least that's the reactionary road that was so easy to head down upon turning Monday into Tuesday).
Or how about Sam Travis? The first baseman so many chalked up as nothing more than a spring training wunderkind has actually found himself in a different conversation. Since popping up as an extra player in London Travis has proven himself to be a legitimate big-league threat, hitting .302 with a .879 OPS and three homers in 20 appearances, with the 25-year-old being presented Player of the Game honors by his teammates this time around thanks to a game-changing three-run homer.
Maybe Travis does represent a right-handed-hitting option at first base for 2020 that isn't named Bobby Dalbec.
Then there is Rick Porcello.
At first blush suggesting that the righty should be prioritized for next year's starting rotation seems like the ultimate knee-jerk reaction. Sure Porcello offered the Red Sox the kind of outing they so very desperately needed, allowing one run over six innings. At least six innings and one run or fewer from a starter? We hadn't seen that from a Sox starter since July 22 and was a feat accomplished by a member of the rotation just three times throughout the entirety of July. (Conversely, the Astros' starters have already managed this kind of feat three times in August after doing it on nine occasions last month.)
It was exactly what the Red Sox needed.
But for most, this simply represented a blip against one of the worst-hitting teams in the American League. Porcello still is a pitcher with a 5.54 ERA who has benefitted from an unworldly amount of run support. It was a step in the right direction, but just a step.
What this should have been, however, is a reminder, one which should be considered when thinking about 2020. Despite the numbers. No matter the image portrayed for much of the season. This is a guy the Red Sox should consider makimng part of their plans for next season. A leader on the team. One who has shown the ability to dig himself out of the deepest of holes. And a pitcher who can offer moments like Monday.
"This guy, he keeps working," Cora said. "Probably he'll find something he needs to work on this week and try to get better. There's no pressure on them. They understand we've got to do better. That's the bottom line and for us to do this it starts with pitching and today was the first step."
"That's my job," the pitcher noted. "I get the ball every five days and I'm expected to mentally be in the right place and physically be in the right place. It's not the first time I struggled before so I feel I have the mental capacity to bounce back from that kind of stuff and today was a good start moving in the right direction."
Porcello told WEEI.com moments before Opening Day that he had tried to get some sort of commitment beyond 2019, offering the team a discounted rate for a valued 30-year-old starting pitcher with no injury history and coming off a 17-win campaign. As he said at the time:
"I've been here for four years now, I've learned a lot and I've really enjoyed playing for and representing this organization and this city. It's kind of where my heart is. It doesn't always work out like that to be able to continue to live it out or follow through. That part, at this point, is a little disappointing. Just keep on trucking and see where it ends up."
Where it has ended up is far from ideal for Porcello. But there is still a path for his return. It's called a qualifying offer.
Let's just say the QO ends up being around $18 million. For one year at that price with what Porcello delivers, isn't that worth it? Sure, it might be more than he could get in this era's open market, but the tradeoff is the opportunity for the pitcher who is undeniably an alpha in that clubhouse to round out a rotation that is pretty much set from top to bottom thanks to previous financial commitments.
There are no logical minor-leaguers in the Red Sox system who would be deemed worthy of being thrown into the starting rotation mix in 2020 (with Darwinzon Hernandez looking more and more like a better fit as a late-inning reliever). So, why not? There would be no chance Porcello turns down the offer, with teams immediately scared off because of the draft picks which would be needed to sign the righty.
The plan might be a little unorthodox considering the level of players usually considered for such a financial commitment. But much like the unique cases free agents-to-be such as Zack Wheeler and Cole Hamels will present their current clubs, the same can be said for Porcello.
Maybe the Red Sox simply view the financial hit -- albeit just for a year -- as too big to swallow, especially considering the money they already have tied up in Chris Sale, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi. And there is always the chance this fifth and final spot in the rotation is being earmarked for someone not even in the organization, and worthy of allocation trade pieces this offseason. But with all we know about Porcello, this should be a consideration.
There are plenty of more starts to go and a lot of time weeks before decision-day. What we saw Monday night, however, should have at least got you -- and the Red Sox -- thinking.
The Red Sox won their eighth straight game against the Royals, their longest winning streak against the club, having won seven in a row during the 1969-70 and 1998 seasons.
