Late bloomer or flash in pan? Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz has plenty to prove in move to AL

10:07 AM ET

BOSTON — As much as almost any hitter in baseball, San Francisco Giants outfielder Angel Pagan has faced Drew Pomeranz at every stage of the lefty’s winding career — in 2012, when he was a fledgling starter for the Colorado Rockies; in 2015, when he was sent to the bullpen by the Oakland Athletics; this season, when he emerged as an All-Star with the San Diego Padres.

But as Pomeranz makes his Boston Red Sox debut Wednesday night at Fenway Park, not even Pagan knows what to expect.

“It’s tough to say because he’s changing leagues. It’s totally different,” Pagan said. “Is he a great pitcher that’s having a great year? Yes. We just have to wait and see how that transition from National League to American League goes. I can not predict.”

And that’s what makes the Red Sox’s trade for Pomeranz last week so uncertain.

Last season, three proven aces were dealt before the trade deadline. Although there wasn’t any guarantee that Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto or David Price would pitch well for their new teams, their track records suggested a level of reliability, if not excellence.

That doesn’t exist with Pomeranz. Before he broke out with a 2.47 ERA and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings through 17 starts with the Padres, numbers that earned him a spot on the NL All-Star team, he had a 4.07 ERA and 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 107 career appearances, only 49 of which were starts. In those starts, he posted a 4.60 ERA and 7.7 strikeouts per nine.

Boston hopes Drew Pomeranz, who makes his Red Sox debut on Wednesday Night Baseball, will become the pitcher Cleveland envisioned when it drafted him ahead of Matt Harvey, Chris Sale and Noah Syndergaard. Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

But Pomeranz also was arguably the best starter available at a time when the demand for starting pitching far exceeds the supply. Several AL contenders, including the rival Baltimore Orioles, are looking for rotation help, so Boston struck early by acquiring Pomeranz last Thursday night for prized 18-year-old right-hander Anderson Espinoza, a steep price but one that Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said is being asked by teams that are peddling rent-a-pitchers with expiring contracts.

To hear Red Sox pitching analytics guru Brian Bannister tell it, Pomeranz might be a classic late bloomer. For one thing, the 27-year-old’s …

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