Now this is the pitcher that the Boston Red Sox thought they were getting when they traded for Rick Porcello last year and lavished him with a lucrative contract extension.
Fans were ready to run Porcello out of town after his dismal first season in Boston. The right-hander went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA in 2015, numbers that personified the act of lighting a pile of money on fire.
Porcello was like a struggling student that couldn’t live up to the potential his teachers saw in him. He’d show flashes of brilliance, only to tank the big test and end up with a barely passing grade.