A competitor deserves credit for helping Rick Porcello find his groove at the end of the 2019 Major League Baseball season.
MLB Network’s Tom Verducci revealed Monday on “MLB Tonight” how Minnesota Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi helped the free-agent pitcher end the season solidly with the Boston Red Sox. Odorizzi in early September offered Porcello some unsolicited advice, which helped him win two of his last three starts, giving up just five runs and striking out 20 batters combined and walking only one.
“I saw Jake (Odorizzi) talking to Rick Porcello for a good 20 minutes, I said ‘Do you know Rick?'” Verducci asked Odorizzi.
“‘I pitch very similarly and I thought I could help him (Porcello),'” Odorizzi told responded.
“Here’s how he helped him,” Verducci continued. “Jake has a fastball, split (-finger fastball) combo in any kind of order where he changes the angle of the hitter’s eye, playing the up-and-down game more than the in-and-out game that Porcello plays.
“This is what he talked to Rick Porcello about. … Since that conversation his last three starts, coincidence or not, Rick went 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA, was much better.
“I thought it was very interesting that guys with similar stuff, that Jake Odorizzi would go to a player he didn’t know that well and say ‘this is what worked for me.’ … .”
↕️ How did @JakeOdorizzi help out @RickPorcello this season?
Tom Verducci explains on #MLBTonight. pic.twitter.com/Ywa9XmapNI
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 18, 2019
Porcello’s strong finish capped a season in which he went 14-12 with a career-high 5.52 ERA.
He entered free agency after the Red Sox season, and some MLB analysts project him to sign a contract worth between $9 million and $12 million per season, be it in Boston or elsewhere.
Porcello will turn 31 next month, and Verducci believes whichever team signs him will receive good value for the money.
“I think whoever signs Rick Porcello will be very happy about getting the pitcher,” Verducci concluded.
Once Porcello lands on a new team, perhaps he’ll treat Odorizzi to dinner as a show of gratitude.
