20 Facts About Rick Porcello

1. Rick Porcello was traded to the Boston Red Sox on December 11, 2014, and penned a four-year contract extension worth $82.5 million on April 6, 2015, with a $500,000 signing bonus.

2. Rick Porcello spent his first season at the minor league side Lakeland Flying Tigers.

3. Rick Porcello will start Game 3 of the World Series for the Red Sox against a revamped Dodgers lineup.

4. Rick Porcello managed to hold Detroit to just 4-for-14 with runners in.

5. Rick Porcello is a groundball pitcher who relies on a sinking two-seam fastball.

6. Rick Porcello is the maternal grandson of Sam Dente, who played for the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series.

7. Rick Porcello struggled the ensuing season after winning the Cy Young award the previous season, finishing with a career high 17 losses.

8. Rick Porcello became just the 4th Red Sox pitcher to win the award joining Jim Lonborg, Roger Clemens, and Pedro Martinez.

9. Rick Porcello rebounded from a bad season by leading the Red Sox back to the playoffs on the way to winning the Cy Young award.

10. Rick Porcello is the first Tiger pitcher to throw at least three shutouts in a season since Jeff Weaver in 2002.

11. Rick Porcello became the first Tiger to pitch back-to-back shutouts since Jack Morris in 1986.

12. On January 18, 2013, Rick Porcello signed a one-year, $5.1 million contract with the Tigers to avoid arbitration for a second time.

13. On January 6, 2012, Rick Porcello opted out of an option for 2012 included in his four-year contract, becoming arbitration eligible and under team control through 2015.

14. Rick Porcello entered Spring Training competing for a job in the Tigers starting rotation, battling with teammates Phil Coke, Jacob Turner, and Brad Penny for a spot.

15. Rick Porcello tackled Youkilis, both went down, and both benches cleared.

16. Rick Porcello pitched five innings and took the loss for Detroit.

17. Rick Porcello began drawing comparisons to Boston Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, namely from Tigers official Al Avila, who was the Florida Marlins scouting director when the team drafted Beckett in 1999.

18. Rick Porcello played the entire 2008 season with the Lakeland Flying Tigers, Detroit's advanced class-A affiliate.

19. Rick Porcello was signed by the Detroit Tigers to a $7.28 million, four-year deal with two one-year options.

20. Rick Porcello said he cried after the game while thinking about it.