Sean Newcomb will walk to the mound Saturday for his 29th start, and do it on what is hallowed ground for New Englanders such as him and the couple of hundred or more friends, family members and former high school and college teammates who’ll be at Fenway Park to watch.
But in his first start at Fenway, the big left-hander from nearby Middleboro, Mass., will try to beat the Red Sox. He’ll try to do to them what he used to watch one of his idols, Pedro Martinez, do to so many others when the great Martinez pitched for the Sox.
Newcomb, 24, pitches for the Braves and has fast become arguably the best pitcher in their starting rotation, taking a 5-1 record and 2.39 ERA into his 10th start of the season, Saturday’s middle game of a three-game series against a Red Sox team with baseball’s best record (33-15 before Friday).
“Coming here, I knew whenever we had tickets to the game it was a big deal,” Newcomb said, recalling trips to Fenway Park with his dad whenever he could score tickets. “You’d change your day. This was a big setting, I used to love to come watching Pedro, Manny and Big Papi and everybody, it was awesome.”
Newcomb was about 6-foot-4 when graduated from Middleboro High, but only about 200 pounds and with a fastball that topped out at 90 mph -- or at least he thinks it did a couple of times. He wasn’t entirely sure since radar guns were rarely found at his high-school games and scouts saw him pitch only during the travel-ball season.
He said his high school, like most in the cold Northeast, had only about 20 games on its schedule and then a maximum of five playoff games if they went all the way to the state championship. As a result, he had only one Division I scholarship offer, to Hartford, where he gained 40 pounds and 6-7 mph on his fastball over three seasons and was selected by the Angels in the first round (15th overall) of the 2014 draft.
Traded to the Braves in the deal that sent spectacular defensive shortstop Andrelton Simmons to Anaheim, Newcomb is pitching so well that it’s beginning to take away some of the sting Braves fans felt over losing “Simba.”
After giving up five earned runs in 4-1/3 innings of a loss to the Nationals in his April 2 season debut, Newcomb has been utterly dominant, going 5-0 with a 1.68 ERA and .182 opponents’ average in his past eight starts, with 52 strikeouts and 20 walks in 48-1/3 innings.
This from a guy who was 4-9 with a 4.32 ERA in 19 starts as a rookie in 2017.
“It’s day and night from a year ago till now,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Kind of what you hope for. You don’t know when it’ll happen, but this has really been good to see. He started in spring training, a different guy.”
“Hopefully he keeps it going for another four months.”
He’ll face arguably his biggest challenge yet Saturday in a rugged Red Sox lineup that ranked second in the majors in OPS (.787) and second with 71 homers before Friday – the most in team history through 50 games -- including a majors-leading 41 since April 30.
Newcomb has allowed only three homers all season and none in his past four starts, during which he’s given up one run and nine hits in 25 innings, the best stretch by a Braves pitcher in quite some time.
“Oh, man, he’s been awesome,” said Braves reliever Dan Winkler, an All-Star candidate along with Newcomb from the Braves’ pitching staff. “I’ve kind of come up with Newk a little, so to see the confidence level in him is … it’s crazy. I think we all knew if he pounded the zone a little better, that he had good enough stuff.
“I think he just had to start believing in his stuff a little bit more. And that’s kind of what I’ve seen so far. He believes and he knows that he can get major league hitters out, and he’s been doing that. He’s been solid, man.”
Newcomb said, “I’m just feeling more comfortable, I think that’s what it boils down to. I’m just feeling more comfortable, everything with my approach – I’m attacking guys, everything’s working pretty well.”
Newcomb got to spend an off-day Thursday with some old friends. They went to the new “Star Wars” movie together.
But they might hardly recognize him when he takes the mound Saturday. The baby face and softer edqes of his physique are gone and at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, he’s as formidable a presence on the mound as just about any young pitcher in the game.
His parents are both Massachusetts natives -- “You can see where my mom grew up from the hotel – she’s from Dorcester, which is like South Boston pretty much,” Newcomb said – and both are terribly excited for this game, as are his friends and other family members. It’s probably a good thing Newcomb doesn’t seem quite as geeked up for it as he said they all are.
“They’re all excited. I’m not too worried about it, but everybody else is worried about it,” he said, smiling. “They’re just excited.”
And Newcomb’s not?
“Nah,” he said. “Just another game.”
