Rick Porcello

[gbill2004]

He's been pitching like an ace lately. Is he the real deal? Thoughts on him for the rest of the season?

[kimchi_chigae]

It's about time.

A few more Ks, and he'd be great.

[J35J]

Depends on your definition of real deal. He's still only K'ing 5.4 per 9 so that's not anywhere near real deal in my definition book. Can he be a sub 4ERA guy with a 1.30WHP...sure, but when you are lucky to reach 130K's over 200innings I'm just not that excited.

This is most of the reason why I wasn't all that excited about Cahill coming into the year...he was a 5k per 9 type of guy the last 2 years and now this year he's up over 7 per 9 so his value has sky rocketed...I'm still a little skeptical he'll keep this pace up though. So yeah, if Porcello can do what he's doing now, plus bump his K rate up over 6.5/7 per 9 then we can talk about him being the real deal.

[nsulham]

Yeah I'm just not getting too jazzed about him until he gets that K rate up. Without it I have a hard time believing that low-2 ERA won't balloon.

[Urban Cohorts]

I like Porcello. I think he is going to be a reliable fantasy option this year, though not an ace. A lot of his pitches go for ground balls (though he isn't an elite GB pitcher yet) and he has a very good BB rate. He doesn't strike out a lot of guys, but his K rate is improving. He also doesn't give up too many HRs, which is helpful. And the kid is only 22! Once that K rate improves, he could be gold. He reminds me a lot of early career Derek Lowe. Porcello doesn't have as many GB, but he looks to have slightly better control and less HR problems.