Memorize this quote for the next time someone criticizes Porcello’s low K rate.

“Porcello had just 72 whiffs in 125 innings, a surprisingly low number for a pitcher with his stuff, but that’s attributable to Detroit’s desire that he work on his changeup and limit the use of his curveball and slider. He also was kept on tight pitch counts, so he focused on being efficient rather than going fo strikeouts.”

-Baseball America, 6 October 2008

Also consider that the only other 19 year old pitcher in the FSL (Deolis Guerra) threw 130 innings, logged 71 K’s, 71 BB’s, 12 HR and 138 hits.

Porcello’s performance relative to his in-game limits and his age within that league is actually quite impressive.

And as a sidenote I think that if Porcello profiles more as Roy Halladay than Josh Beckett, that’s not a bad thing.