Kuzul

With a good September, the Toronto Blue Jays could repeat as American League East champions.

With a good September, Josh Donaldson could repeat, too.

The Blue Jays moved back into first place with Friday night’s 15-8 rout of the Minnesota Twins, as their rivals in Baltimore and Boston both lost. Donaldson may not have moved into first place in the MVP race with his 30th home run, but he could be setting up for the kind of month that would put him there.

He’s already got a better case than you might think.

His traditional numbers aren’t as flashy as the ones that won him the MVP last year. He almost certainly won’t get to the 41 home runs and 123 RBI he had in 2015 (he’s at 30 and 85 with 34 games remaining).

But Donaldson’s .958 OPS is actually higher than the .939 he won with last year.

As for his value, check this out: Twenty-five of Donaldson’s 30 home runs have come in Blue Jay wins, as have 70 of his 85 RBI. He’s a .343 hitter when they win and a .216 hitter when they don’t.

Obviously, most hitters do better when their teams win. If Donaldson hit better in a few of those games the Blue Jays lost, at all those times when their entire offense stalled, they’d have a much bigger division lead.

The point still holds. When Donaldson hits, the Blue Jays tend to win. If he hits in September the way he hit in June (1.193 OPS) and July (1.019), you like the Blue Jays’ chances in the East.

In those two months, when Donaldson was red-hot, the Blue Jays ranked second and fourth in the major leagues in runs, at more than five a game. This month, which until this week hasn’t been one of Donaldson’s best, the Jays were averaging barely four runs a game (27th in the majors), before Friday night’s explosion.

Jose Bautista missed two weeks with soreness in his left knee, before returning Thursday. Kevin Pillar was out with a thumb injury, before coming back Tuesday.

Their returns should help the Blue Jays lineup, but the most significant return this week could be that of Donaldson’s home run swing. He had homered just once in 16 games before Thursday and drove in only five runs in that span, as he played with a jammed thumb.

He connected off Jered Weaver on Thursday and connected again off Twins starter Pat Dean in the second inning Friday. After never hitting 30 in a season before coming to Toronto, Donaldson has done it two straight years for the Blue Jays.

As of now, he probably isn’t the 2016 MVP. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, once again leading the league in WAR (8.0, the way Baseball-Reference.com calculates it), will get some votes. Mookie Betts, who has helped carry the Red Sox into the AL East race, is getting some support.

Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros has a big lead in the batting race. David Ortiz of the Red Sox leads in OPS (1.042). Donaldson’s teammate, Edwin Encarnacion, leads with 102 RBI.

With just over a month to go, it’s a race still to be won—sort of like the AL East.

As I wrote Thursday, the division race is a tough one to call. The Blue Jays aren’t the exciting newcomers, and they didn’t make the big midseason deals like the ones last year for David Price and Troy Tulowitzki.

Still, they’re in first place, with just over five weeks to play.

Donaldson isn’t the flashy MVP choice this year, either. He set a Blue Jays record with three walk-off home runs in 2015; he hasn’t hit any of them this year.

His walk total is up, perhaps because pitchers are showing the defending MVP more respect. His RBI total is down, perhaps because there haven’t been as many opportunities.

“They’re trying to take the bat out of my hand more often this year,” Donaldson told Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star.

They don’t want to let Donaldson beat them, and it’s easy to understand why.

But doesn’t that just show how valuable he can be?

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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New York Yankees rookie Gary Sanchez became the third-fastest player in Major League Baseball history to hit 10 career home runs with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth inning during Friday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.

With the Yankees already leading 10-1, Sanchez took a 1-0 pitch from Vance Worley and deposited it into the left field seats:

It was the rookie’s 84th plate appearance of the season and 86th of his career.

Friday night was also just his 20th big league game of the season and 22nd of his career. Sanchez did play one game with the Yankees on May 13, but they demoted him to Triple-A shortly afterward. He rejoined the club in early August and has since served as the everyday catcher in New York.

Per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com, only George Scott of the Boston Red Sox (1966) and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies (this season) hit their first 10 home runs faster. 

Scott didn’t amount to a Babe Ruth-like power hitter, though. In his 14-year career with four different teams, he hit 271 home runs while recording over 20 in just five of those seasons. In two of them, he recorded over 30, including his league-leading 36-homer campaign for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1975.

There are still plenty of at-bats and seasons left before the jury is out on Sanchez and Story.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Sanchez also became the first rookie since 1920 to have 10 home runs and 20 RBI in the first 20 games of a season Friday. 

His 10 dingers in 20 games are tied for the third-highest season-starting total in Yankees history, per SportsCenter:

With New York 5.5 games back in the American League East and 3.5 games out of the second wild-card spot, there might not be postseason baseball at Yankee Stadium this year. But with a rising star like Sanchez, there is something special brewing in the Bronx. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones suffered a strained hamstring during Friday’s game against the New York Yankees when he pulled up at first base after a leadoff groundout in the first inning. However, he is expected to return to the lineup soon. 

Continue for updates.

Showalter Comments on Jones’ Recovery

Sunday, Aug. 28

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said that Jones is close to returning and would have played against the Yankees if it was a night game, according to MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli.

Showalter told reporters on Friday that Jones was in the “same spot as” Thursday, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. Showalter added it’s not a situation where Jones could land on the disabled list.

Jones Out vs. Yankees

Sunday, Aug. 28

The Orioles announced Jones will not be in Sunday’s lineup against the Yankees: 

O’s Need Jones in Lineup Heading Toward Playoffs

Jones battled oblique discomfort at the start of the season, but he returned to the starting lineup on a full-time basis after missing four games and making two brief appearances as a defensive replacement. 

Entering Friday, Jones had posted a slash line of .275/.316/.456/ with 74 RBI and 24 home runs a year after regressing slightly to the tune of 25 home runs and 82 RBI when he was limited to 137 games.

To put those numbers in perspective, Jones clubbed 29 dingers and drove in 96 runs while batting .281 and missing just three games in 2014.

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The American League East doesn’t get enough respect.

Stop yelling back at your computer (or phone or iPad) for a minute and work with me on this.

You’ve heard plenty this summer about the Chicago Cubs, much of it deserved. You’ve heard about the surprising Los Angeles Dodgers and the stumbling San Francisco Giants. You’ve heard about the Texas Rangers and the Washington Nationals.

But when you hear about the three teams doing their summer-long dance atop the AL East, what you mostly hear is how flawed they are.

“We’re a team where people find things to pick on us,” Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones recently complained to Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. “We’re not doing this well, we’re not doing that well. What are we doing well? I’m just saying, it’s always something.“

Head to Massachusetts, where every other week someone seems to want to fire Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell. Or to Canada, where as recently as Monday Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was the local critics’ favorite target.

That’s the Blue Jays who over the last eight weeks have the best winning percentage in the American League (.609) and the Red Sox who over the same span have the second-best winning percentage (.604) and are tied with the Blue Jays for first place.

The Orioles are in third place, one game out on 70 wins, and after three straight wins over the Nationals, they hold the second wild-card spot.

With apologies to Jones, we’ll spend a little time here picking on where the Orioles are lacking: starting pitching, particularly with the team announcing it has placed Chris Tillman on the disabled list. We won’t blame everything on Farrell or Gibbons, but we will point out the Red Sox’s big flaw (middle relief) and the Blue Jays’ weaknesses (inconsistent offense, possibly overextended starting pitching).

First, it’s worth pointing out that these are three very good teams, three teams with outstanding lineups and three teams with every chance to win in October. Those records since late June show it, and so do the head-to-head records between the three new Beasts of the East and the other teams holding playoff positions.

Put them together and take out their records against each other, and the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Orioles are a combined 36-25 against the playoff teams from the other five divisions. As limited a sample as that is, it’s still evidence these three shouldn’t be ignored when looking for a World Series favorite.

But which of the three would it be?

There’s no easy answer. When I asked one scout who follows the AL East closely which team will win the division, he first went with the Blue Jays. Five minutes later, he had talked himself into switching to the Red Sox.

“The talent Boston has on the field is really exciting,” said the scout, who works for a National League team. “But I still think it’s going to come down to the last week.”

Let’s hope so for drama’s sake. That final week of the season has the Blue Jays hosting the Orioles and then heading to Fenway Park to close out the regular season against the Red Sox (while Baltimore is up against the dangerous New York Yankees).

By then, perhaps the Red Sox will have figured out the seventh and eighth innings. Maybe Clay Buchholz can be the answer, as both Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe suggested. Maybe the Red Sox will take a flier on Greg Holland, the one-time Kansas City Royals closer (and free agent) who is already throwing off the mound in his comeback from Tommy John surgery.

The middle of the bullpen is the Red Sox’s one remaining huge flaw now the kids have settled the lineup issues, David Ortiz has overcome age questions and David Price’s rebound (3.17 ERA over his last 20 starts, 2.36 over his last six) has sparked an overall rotation improvement.

The Red Sox will also need to maneuver through two more three-city road trips, including one to the West Coast. Given their 33-28 road record and the way they’ve handled their ongoing four-city trip—7-3 going into Thursday afternoon’s finale with the Tampa Bay Rays—the schedule may not be a problem.

The Blue Jays have a similar road record (34-28) and a rotation that has been more consistent this season. In fact, the Jays are the only one of the three AL East contenders to rank in the top half of MLB teams in overall ERA.

The bullpen could be a question, and so could health (Jose Bautista will return from the disabled list as a designated hitter), but the biggest issue for the Blue Jays could be that three of their starting pitchers are nearing career highs in innings pitched. The Jays have gone with a six-man rotation and optioned ace Aaron Sanchez to the minor leagues as he skips a start, but the workload could be a concern.

And the Orioles?

With more apologies to Jones, it’s easier to find things to pick on with them. Even with Tillman, their rotation has easily the highest ERA (4.92) and fewest innings pitched (684.1) of the three contenders. Now Tillman (15-5, 3.76) is on the DL with shoulder bursitis, and Ubaldo Jimenez (5-9, 6.72 as a starter this year) will go in his place Thursday night in Washington.

Only two teams have made the playoffs with under 900 innings from starting pitchers in a non-strike season. The Orioles are on pace for 880.

Only six teams have made it to October with a rotation ERA over 5.00, all between 1995 and 2001. The Orioles are just under that mark.

In Zach Britton, they have a closer in the midst of a historic season. In Buck Showalter, they have the best manager in the division, a man who can work a bullpen.

In Mark Trumbo, they have the AL home run leader (38). In Manny Machado, they may have the division’s best overall player.

In October, they’d have a chance, and it’s more than possible they’ll join the Blue Jays and Red Sox with a chance to prove it. Heading into Wednesday, the Orioles were two games ahead in the race for the second wild-card spot, with the Red Sox and Jays tied for both the top spot and the AL East lead.

The arguments will go on. The search for flaws will continue.

For one of these three teams, it could continue all the way into November.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Advanced stats courtesy Baseball-Reference.com.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has been a revelation. That statement is supported by a heap of numbers, but let’s start with a single figure: two.

That’s how many times Sanchez—a 23-year-old rookie with fewer than 100 big league plate appearances to his name—was intentionally walked Wednesday.

He also rapped two hits, including a double and a home run, in the Yankees’ 5-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. He’s now hitting .389 for the year with a 1.297 OPS.

Here’s the no-doubt homer, courtesy of the YES Network:

We’re in small-sample land, obviously. The list of call-ups who lit the league on fire for a few weeks before careening back to Earth is longer than a large-print copy of War and Peace stapled to the Shanghai phone book. 

But if you’re a Yankees fan and you’re not giddy about Sanchez, you may want to call the coroner.

Manager Joe Girardi described the tools Sanchez possesses that will lead to long-term success, per Billy Witz of the New York Times:

He’s able to slow the game down. You don’t ever see a panic in him. You can see him take one bad swing and see him adjust, and that makes me believe that he’s going to be fine.

I’m sure he’s going to have some bumps in the road. But you watch him behind the plate, his athleticism back there—that’s not going to change. His arm strength isn’t going to change. His ability to call games isn’t going to change. His ability to frame pitches isn’t going to change. So it leads you to believe that he’s going to be O.K.

We’ll get into Sanchez’s catching skills in a moment, but let’s not leave his bat behind just yet.

Sanchez has hit nine homers in 19 games. That’s as many as Alex Rodriguez hit in 65 games before his in-season retirement. It’s three more than Jacoby Ellsbury has hit in 115 games. This season, New York is paying Rodriguez and Ellsbury a combined $42 million and change.

That’s a cheap shot, granted. But it also highlights the Yankees’ new game plan: Shed expensive veterans and supplant them with cost-controlled young studs.

It began with the trade deadline sell-off that jettisoned relievers Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller and outfielder Carlos Beltran, among others, and netted New York the best farm system in baseball, per Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter.

Then came the promotions of Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin. On Aug. 14, Austin and Judge became the first MLB rookies to hit back-to-back homers in their first big league at-bats. They’ve sputtered since; nothing unusual there. Patience is always the buzzword with young players.

Sanchez, meanwhile, simply keeps raking.

OK, back to his catching skills. According to StatCorner, he’s been among the American League‘s top 10 pitch-framers (again, small sample, but still). More impressively, he’s cut down five of eight would-be base-stealers.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen an arm on a catcher like that in a while,” first baseman Mark Teixeira said, per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. “Pudge Rodriguez, I was a rookie and my first spring training, he was still in Texas throwing BBs. He’s one of the best catchers to ever play the game. That arm is right up there with Pudge’s when he was in his prime. That’s something to say.”

Sanchez has already shoved aside veteran Yankees backstop Brian McCann, who is owed a combined $34 million in 2017 and 2018. Soon, Sanchez could be pushing the game’s elite receivers for MLB supremacy. 

At the very least, he looks like a cornerstone of the Yankees’ burgeoning golden era.

There are plenty more glitzy prospects in the pipeline, including outfielder Clint Frazier, shortstop Gleyber Torres and left-hander Justus Sheffield, just to name three of the club’s blue-chip deadline acquisitions. 

New York could also flip its young assets and swing a blockbuster trade or two. Plus, with multiple contracts coming off the books this year and next, general manager Brian Cashman will have money to burn on the ludicrously loaded 2018-19 free-agent class. 

We’re getting ahead of ourselves. It’s far too early to anoint Sanchez the next Pudge or start engraving the Yankees’ next Commissioner’s Trophy.

The stars appear to be aligning over the Bronx, however. And right now, Sanchez is blazing across the MLB firmament.

Sure, you can poke holes in his game. He’s been a pull-happy hitter this season between the majors and minors, a tendency that opposing pitchers could exploit, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan outlined:

Sanchez, I’m sure, is going to run into some adjustment problems, unless he discovers right field. The way he shifts his momentum forward causes him to commit pretty early, and that can have an effect on his discipline. Sanchez probably won’t walk a ton, at least for a while. He’ll have some ugly strikeouts and rolled-over grounders. Peak Sanchez should look more polished, and that’ll take some progression. The current swing has vulnerabilities.

That’s to be expected, though. It’s the rare 23-year-old who comes up without vulnerabilities. Everything we’ve seen from Sanchez so far indicates a player with the tools to be special at a premium position.

He’s been a revelation. And he’s almost certainly just getting started.

All statistics current as of Aug. 24 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi was removed from his team’s game on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays with a knee injury and had to be helped from the field.

The Red Sox initially diagnosed him with a knee sprain and placed him on the disabled list. It is uncertain when he will return to the lineup.

Continue for updates.

Benintendi Not Ruled Out for Remainder of Season

Friday, Aug. 26

MLB.com’s Ian Browne reported that the “Red Sox medical team finds no structural damage with Benintendi. Team remains optimistic he will play again this season.”

Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters Thursday that it’s too early to tell if Benintendi’s injury will prematurely end his season, adding that team doctors are still reviewing the MRI.

Benintendi Placed on DL

Thursday, Aug. 25

Tom Caron of NESN passed along news of the roster move, noting Marco Hernandez was promoted in his place.

Benintendi Spotted in Clubhouse

Thursday, Aug. 25 

Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reported that Benintendi was walking gingerly in the clubhouse with a brace on his knee.

Benintendi Sprains Knee vs. Rays

Wednesday, Aug. 24

After reaching second base on a double in the seventh inning, Benintendi got caught in between bases and was tagged out trying to return to second. MLB.com shared video of the play:

Benintendi Emerged as Valuable Player After Promotion to Roster

While this was only the outfielder’s 21st game in the majors, he had been one of the best players on the team in his short run. 

Through Wednesday’s game, Benintendi had a batting average of .324 (22-for-68) with six doubles and 11 runs. He has also displayed some impressive defense in the outfield during this stretch. His presence provided the Red Sox with a major boost since he was called up on Aug. 2, and the team remains in a battle with the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

Before reaching the majors, Benintendi was considered the No. 9 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America’s midseason list. He hit .295 with eight home runs in just 63 games in Double-A after beginning the season in Single-A.

It’s clear the outfielder has plenty of potential with the confidence to help Boston this season and beyond, but the team better hope this turns out to be a minor injury.

With Benintendi out, Chris Young and Brock Holt should earn some starts in left field in his place.

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Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Chris Tillman has been dealing with discomfort in his throwing shoulder that has forced him to the disabled list. It is unclear when he will be able to return.

Continue for updates.

Showalter Comments Tillman’s Recovery

Saturday, Aug. 27

MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli noted that Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, “Tillman probably won’t need a rehab start.”

Tillman Hits DL

Wednesday, Aug. 24

The Orioles announced they placed Tillman on the 15-day DL retroactive to Aug. 21 with right shoulder bursitis.

Tillman Comments on Injury

Tuesday, Aug. 23

Tillman discussed his current malady, per MASN:

Injury-Plagued Tillman Remains Orioles’ Best Starter

The same shoulder forced Tillman to miss a start Aug. 17. His last start was pushed back to Aug. 20 in order to give him eight days’ rest.

It didn’t do him any good, as BrooksBaseball.net (h/t the Baltimore Sun‘s Eduardo A. Encina) indicated his four-seam fastball averaged 91.52 miles per hour—his lowest mark of the season—and he allowed six earned runs on six hits while walking five in just two innings.

However, Tillman revealed after the difficult start that there were no problems with the shoulder.

It was an uncharacteristic start from him, though, as Tillman has been the best starting arm in an Orioles rotation that has not been good this season.

At 15-5 with a 3.76 ERA, Tillman was the only Baltimore pitcher prior to his injury with more than 10 starts who has more than five wins with an ERA lower than 4.11.

If Tillman is to miss an extended period of time, it’s not going to bode well for the Orioles’ postseason chances.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The New York Yankees lost Monday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, 7-5, but not before rookie catcher Gary Sanchez made history.

Sanchez drilled a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run shot in the sixth to give him eight for the season. According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com, Sanchez’s eight homers in his first 19 games have made him “the first player in the franchise’s history to hit so many long balls so quickly.”

The Yankees newcomer has tasted success early in his big league career. Earlier Monday, the 23-year-old was named the American League Player of the Week, “becoming the first Yankees catcher to win the honor since Thurman Munson in 1976,” per Marchand. In addition to serving as the everyday catcher for one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, he’s been hitting third in New York’s lineup.

Sanchez isn’t just hitting for power, either. His batting average sat at a sparkling .361 coming into Monday’s game, and he helped his cause with three hits in four at-bats against Seattle.

Sanchez has been a bright spot for a Yankees squad that is in a disappointing fourth place in the AL East. While this is not yet a lost season for the team, which was still within five games of a wild-card spot after Monday’s loss, New York doesn’t look primed to win the World Series this year unless it can turn things around quickly.

Sanchez represents a building block for the future as the team looks to establish a new dynasty moving forward after winning four World Series titles from 1996 to 2000 and another in 2009.

The Yankees also have a pair of promising 24-year-olds, outfielder Aaron Judge and first baseman Tyler Austin, alongside Sanchez. Judge and Austin each homered in their first big league at-bats against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 13, and they did so in back-to-back fashion.

The fabled Yankees aren’t atop the standings this season, but Sanchez and Co. represent a bright future. The catcher is already setting records in his first season at the major league level.

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A woman is suing Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion for battery, TMZ Sports revealed on Monday. 

The woman alleges Encarnacion gave her two sexually transmitted diseases following a February trip to the Dominican Republic and is requesting more than $11.5 million in damages. Encarnacion’s agent offered no comment to TMZ Sports regarding the allegations.

A league official told John Lott of Vice Sports that MLB had no statement regarding a potential investigation as of Monday. 

Encarnacion’s agent Paul Kinzer commented on the lawsuit in a statement released to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi on Tuesday:

[Encarnacion] will take every legal measure to defend himself against this frivolous claim, and will bring appropriate claims in the appropriate forums against all of the individuals seeking to exploit his financial position. This is an unacceptable attack on his exceptional character and stellar reputation within the baseball community as a man who carries himself with the highest level of integrity. …

Mr. Encarnacion will not be commenting on this matter. He will not allow this to distract from his continued focus of contributing to his team’s success. We kindly ask that his privacy be respected.

The woman said she had an STD test following a separate encounter with a Blue Jays player in 2015, and the results came back negative for any disease. After returning from the Dominican Republic, the woman visited a doctor, who discovered the presence of two STDs.

The woman alleges Encarnacion misled her as to whether he had any STDs at the time of their February rendezvous.

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The days Rick Porcello doesn’t start for the Boston Red Sox, they’re barely a .500 team.

It’s true. The Sox are 19-6 in Porcello‘s 25 starts, after their 10-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. They’re 49-47 in their other 96 games.

So maybe that four-year, $82.5 million contract wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The Red Sox have a real chance to go worst to first. Their win Friday alongside Toronto’s stunning loss in Cleveland left the Sox just half a game behind the first-place Blue Jays in the American League East.

Porcello has already made just as dramatic a turnaround, going from “What were they thinking?” to “Where would they be without him?” in the space of a year.

A year ago Friday, he was still on the disabled list with a 5-11 record and 5.81 ERA. In 33 starts since then, he’s 21-7 with a 3.20 ERA. He’s tied with J.A. Happ for the major league lead with 17 wins this year, and while that has a lot to do with Porcello and Happ also being one-two in the American League in run support, it’s a reminder of how important his starts have been to Boston.

As the Red Sox were pulling away from the Tigers on Friday night, bouncing back after Thursday’s tough loss, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweeted another way to look at it:

Yes, it helps that the Sox score a lot of runs when Porcello pitches. They’ve been in double digits his last two starts, and they’ve scored eight or more in eight of his 17 wins.

But it helps just as much that Porcello has seven starts in which he has gone at least seven innings while allowing no more than two earned runs. He’s done it in each of his last three starts, helping spark a run in which the Red Sox have won seven of their last eight.

Their starting pitching has been outstanding this month, with David Price improving and Drew Pomeranz starting to look like the pitcher they thought they traded for last month. But Porcello is the one who has been most consistent, the one who has most resembled an ace.

He’s also the one who has been spectacular at home, with a 12-0 record and 2.96 ERA in 13 Fenway Park starts.

Friday’s start was sort of at home, too, because Porcello spent his first six major league seasons with the Tigers. He hadn’t pitched at Comerica since 2014, before the Tigers traded him away because they didn’t want to give him the contract he eventually signed with the Red Sox.

“I think the one thing was that we weren’t sure as time went on if he would take the jump to be a top-of-the-rotation guy once we had him,” Dave Dombrowski told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. “We looked at him maybe as a middle-of-the-rotation type.”

Dombrowski was the Tigers general manager who traded Porcello away, and now he’s the Red Sox GM who has watched Porcello take over that top-of-the-rotation role.

That’s one thing that gave Friday’s start added significance. The other was that Porcello was matched up with Michael Fulmer. As Mario Impemba pointed out on the Fox Sports Detroit telecast, the Tigers basically traded Porcello for Fulmer in December 2014, because they got Yoenis Cespedes and two minor leaguers for Porcello and later traded Cespedes to the New York Mets for Fulmer and Luis Cessa.

Fulmer gave up the first six Red Sox runs Friday, but he’s been a minimum-salary bargain and a strong Rookie of the Year candidate. He’s also just 23 years old.

But Porcello is only 27.

People tend to forget that, because he debuted with the Tigers when he was 20 and already has 233 major league starts and 102 big league wins. In fact, as a Fox Sports Detroit graphic showed, Porcello has the most career wins of any major league pitcher 27 or younger, ahead of Madison Bumgarner (97) and Chris Sale (71).

Among those not on the list are Stephen Strasburg and Jacob deGrom, not just because they have fewer wins but also because they’ve already turned 28. Porcello‘s 28th birthday isn’t until December.

By that time, he will likely have pitched in his fourth postseason. The first three came with the Tigers, who only used him as a starter for two games, both in 2011. His last postseason appearance came in relief in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS, against the Red Sox at Fenway.

Assuming the Red Sox get there this year, you can bet Porcello will be a starter. He might not be the Game 1 starter, but the way he has pitched this season, that might not be the worst idea.

You know what else wasn’t the worst idea: Trading for Porcello and immediately signing him to a $20 million-a-year contract.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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