May 10, 2017 – Pitching prodigies are rare in big-league baseball, with good reason. Given the rigors of the game at that level, even the most promising prospects usually require a few years of apprenticeship in the minors. This is especially true for pitchers, who tend to mature more slowly than position players. Rick Porcello was an exception to the rule.

After being acclaimed High School Player of the Year by USA Today, Porcello was selected by the Tigers in the first round of the 2007 draft. The following year he pitched well enough for the Tigers High A affiliate in Lakeland, FL, to be invited to spring training camp in 2009. Then, with only 24 professional games under his belt, the 22-year-old right-hander was chosen by manager Jim Leyland to be part of the Tigers starting rotation. After posting a 14-9 record, he was selected to start in a one-game playoff for the AL Central Division championship and finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year vote.

By his own admission, the next three years were a struggle as he faced adversity for the first time and worked to figure out who he was as a pitcher. Nevertheless, in his six seasons with Detroit, he compiled a record of 76-63, with a then-career-high of 15 wins in 2014. Traded to the Red Sox in 2015, he led the staff in strikeouts but struggled to a 9-15 record in his debut season. He then rebounded in spectacular fashion in 2016, winning the Cy Young Award with a league-leading 22 wins against 4 losses and a 3.15 ERA, as well as the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award. What did he learn from the ups and downs of life in the big leagues? “You’re never a finished product.”

Porcello’s maternal grandfather was Sam Dente, an infielder who was signed by the Red Sox in 1941 and logged nine years in the major leagues with five teams between 1946 and 1955. A slogan that caught on when he was with the Washington Senators went, “We’ll win plenty with Dente.” As was usually the case with the Senators, they didn’t.