Rubby De La Rosa shows promising signs for Red Sox

By Maureen Mullen / Boston Globe

Photo: Red Sox starter Rubby De La Rosa held the Blue Jays scoreless until running into trouble in the fifth inning.

While most evaluators will say it’s difficult to judge players in September or in spring training, the Red Sox must do so this month as they head into an offseason with many questions that need to be answered. One of which is: Who will be in their starting rotation next season?

Rubby De La Rosa will be one of the pitchers the Sox will be looking to for help in answering that question.

When De La Rosa was optioned to Triple A Pawtucket out of big league camp in spring training, it was with a to-do list — maintain command and strength, as well as focus from pitch to pitch, batter to batter, inning to inning.

The Sox are confident he’s accomplished that.

“Oh, absolutely,” said pitching coach Juan Nieves. “He’s cementing himself very well in the big leagues and he’s showing us that he’s very resilient, actually keeping velocity going from 92 to 98 during the whole course of the game.”

De La Rosa took the loss Sunday afternoon against the Blue Jays, going four innings (plus three batters in the fifth), giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard until the fifth, when he gave up a three-run home run to Jose Bautista, ending his outing.

De La Rosa cruised through the first two innings, facing the minimum. But in the third, the first two batters reached base — on a Kevin Pillar single and a walk to Ryan Goins — and De La Rosa faced six batters, along with five batters in the fourth. But he escaped unscathed in both frames.

“I thought prior to the fifth inning he used all his pitches well,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He pitched out of a couple of jams, continued to show very good poise. The 2-0 slider to Bautista, unfortunately, nicks him for three runs.”

In 16 major league starts this season, De La Rosa is 4-6 with a 4.01 ERA. The Sox will monitor his innings for the rest of the season, giving him abbreviated outings, as they did Sunday.

In 2012, while with the Dodgers and returning from Tommy John surgery the previous season, De La Rosa pitched a total of 13⅔ innings. Last season, between Boston and Pawtucket, his total was 91⅔. After Sunday’s outing, he is up to 152 innings this season.

“He’s advanced so much from what would be considered a rehab year to one where he’s gone out and pitched with no restrictions and as any other starter would,” Farrell said. “I think his maturity continues to show in situations in-between spots where he’s got men in scoring position. So, his year’s not over but he’s taken a big step forward this year versus last.”

In the fifth inning Sunday, De La Rosa gave up a leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Anthony Gose and a single to Jose Reyes before Bautista’s blast cleared the Green Monster, ending De La Rosa’s outing. The three-batter span highlighted one area on which the Sox would like De La Rosa to continue to work.

“He pitches really well against the best hitters, but he needs to keep his focus and to never take a small opponent as a weak opponent,” Nieves said. “I think the lineups in the American League, the seventh, eighth, and ninth hitters are the table-setters for everything. If you don’t get those guys out, you’re in trouble because you’re turning the lineup around.

“He needs to keep his focus, the pedal to the metal. It’s going to come. It’s coming as we all see more focus and more determination. There’s never a lack of confidence or aggressiveness for him, and I think that’s a big part of it.”

But that focus — or lack thereof, at times — has been noticeable.

“Rubby was good early [in the game],” said one major league scout in attendance. “[But it] looks like when things get away from him he starts throwing rather than pitching, like he had been early. Velocity numbers go up, but the ball got into the fat part of the plate, which is part of his history.

“When he pitches he locates better, and when he throws he does not. And it’s fat city for the hitters, or he walks guys.”

There are still things the Sox would like to see from De La Rosa before the end of the season, and things he wants to accomplish.

“Just keep working hard, keep it up, and try to finish strong,” he said.

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