Unknown Heroes Pt. 48: Eduardo Rodriguez

I suppose I can write about this now.  I kind of held out hope that Rodriguez would come back to Boston after opting out of his deal with the Tigers this offseason.  He ended up signing with the Diamondbacks though.  There's always a chance he could come back in a trade or sign back after his four-year contract ends, but that seems unlikely at this point.

Back around the trading deadline in 2014, the Red Sox were in an unusual position.  Despite winning the World Series the previous year, the team was in last place and had a lot of contracts due to come off the books in the offseason.  In other words, they had the chance to completely retool by shedding salary in exchange for prospects.  The team took something of an odd strategy for most of the deals though, choosing to focus on acquiring players who were already in the Majors but had some control left.  That's what led to deals sending out Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and John Lackey for Yoenis Cespedes, Joe Kelly and Allen Craig.  Three deals did yield prospects though.  Jake Peavy was sent to the Giants for Heath Hembree and Edwin Escobar, Felix Doubront was traded to the Cubs for Marco Hernandez, and Andrew Miller was sent to the Orioles for Eduardo Rodriguez.  Of course it is that last one that I am talking about here.

Miller was having an incredible season in 2014.  The lefty reliever turned into a real weapon and was one of the most sought-after players on the trade market.  He had a 2.34 ERA and 69 strikeouts in just 42.1 innings when he was traded to the O's for Rodriguez.  Rodriguez was a top prospect for Baltimore, not their best pitching prospect, but within their top ten overall, so this was a pretty good get for the Red Sox.  He was easily the best prospect they acquired during the time frame and he was far enough along that he did not need much seasoning before making his Major League debut, which came the next year.

Rodriguez made his Major League debut on May 28, 2015 and pitched 7.2 innings of scoreless ball, striking out seven and walking two, getting the win against the Rangers.  Rodriguez would finish the year with a record of 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 37 walks in 121.2 innings.  Surprisingly, he received no consideration for the Rookie of the Year vote.  I am not saying he should have won, or even placed highly, but a vote would have been warranted.  

The next two seasons were very uneven for Rodriguez.  He was 9-14 over the next two years with a 4.42 ERA.  He started showing signs in 2017 of promise though as he struck out 150 batters in just 137.1 innings.  He did not even pitch in the 2016 postseason and faced just two batters in 2017.  2018 was something of a breakout as he went 13-5 with a 3.82 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 129.2 innings.  His big issue was throwing too many pitches.  He walked 3.1 batters per nine innings and got into a lot of full counts.  Nevertheless, he was improving.  

He struggled greatly in the postseason and was primarily a reliever until Game 4 of the World Series.  That was after the 18-inning game that the Dodgers won.  Most of the starters were gassed, so Rodriguez took the mound and pitched well, for awhile.  Since most of the bullpen was exhausted too, Rodriguez had to go a little deeper into the game and made it into the sixth inning without allowing a run.  Unfortunately, things unraveled and he gave up an RBI groundout to Cody Bellinger followed by a three-run home to Yasiel Puig.  Rodriguez slammed his glove into the ground in frustration and was taken out of the game.  Boston rallied to win the game and Rodriguez deserves some credit for his performance and for saving some of the bullpen arms.

2019 was Rodriguez's best season, and the only one so far in which he has received any kind of awards consideration.  He finished sixth in the Cy Young voting.  He had a record of 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA (128 ERA+), helping to keep Boston's pitching afloat in the wake of injuries to Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi.  He threw a career-high 203.1 innings, striking out 213 (also a career high).  He led the league in walks with 75, but also in games started (34).  He was highly durable that season and was rewarded for it.  

Unfortunately, Rodriguez was not able to build on his impressive season.  He sat out the 2020 season, the COVID season, due to some concerning respiratory reactions to the virus.  He did make it back in 2021, but took awhile to get going.  He ended up turning in a decent season, once one looks beyond the surface numbers.  His 4.74 ERA (99 ERA+) looks more like the result of bad luck and/or defense as his FIP was a much more impressive 3.32.  He did have a 13-8 record and cut down his walk rate to below three.  He also struck out 185 batters in 157.2 innings.  

Once again Rodriguez struggled in the postseason.  He appeared in two games against the Rays in the ALDS and went 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and pitched just 6.2 innings total.  He struck out seven and walked two.  He was much better against Houston in the ALCS, drawing the start in the Game 3 blowout and going six strong innings, allowing three runs, all on a Kyle Tucker home run, but striking out seven and walking none.  He got the win.  It would end up being his final appearance in a Red Sox uniform, he signed with Detroit in the offseason.

I wonder sometimes about why Rodriguez left Boston.  Manager Alex Cora was often openly challenging to Rodriguez, in a similar way as he was with Alex Verdugo, calling him out publicly to improve.  At the time, I got the impression that this was because he cared about him a lot and knew that saying something publicly went be a stronger motivator for change.  But I wonder how much that went into Rodriguez leaving the team.  There was also an incident in the last postseason game in which Rodriguez was seen pointing at his wrist, mocking Carlos Correa's maneuver in the first game after he homered.  Cora could be seen yelling at Rodriguez as he was walking off the field after his night was complete.  That was the last time Rodriguez played for Boston and I cannot help but wonder if he was angry with Cora for that.  I guess we may never know.

Rodriguez was often a frustrating pitcher.  He tended to throw too many pitches and had difficulty reaching his potential, but he was entertaining and a pretty good pitcher as well.  He was never and All Star and only once received any votes for any award, but Rodriguez went 64-39 with a 4.16 ERA (110 ERA+, 3.83 FIP) in 159 games for Boston.  In 856.2 innings, he struck out 892 batters, while walking 294.  Those are decent numbers for a starting pitcher in this day and age.  I wish Boston would have kept him.