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Boston Red Sox pitchers: Who will trend up or down?

By Rick McNair

Oct 7, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price (24) pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning in game two of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 7, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price (24) pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning in game two of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 1, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (52) pitches during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (52) pitches during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /

Eduardo Rodriguez is a good pitcher – at least in the second half of 2016 – and will match that in 2017. The season started on a negative with a knee twinge that was either misdiagnosed or lasted far longer than expected. Failure in Boston resulted in all expenses paid vacation to topical Pawtucket – gateway to Central Falls.

After some pitching penance, Rodriguez returned and certainly impressed. In 77 innings the hard-throwing lefty (93.8) whiffed 79, posted a 3.24 ERA, issued 29 walks, and a batting average against of .207. Rodriguez is prone to fits of wildness that apparently come from nowhere and often lead to a meltdown – minimize that and you have a nice package.

At 24-years-old the lefty has much promise and I wonder if Chicago wanted him instead of Michael Kopech? Rodriguez will have an excellent 2017 as long as my personal magical baseball number of BB/9 is either stationary or just slightly north of 3.00. When the statistical dust settles for 2017 I would not be surprised to see Rodriguez classified as a number two starter.

Next: Boston Red Sox bring back right-handed pitcher Brandon Workman

A warning must be issued regarding my less than objective predictions regarding young pitchers. A few seasons back I was firmly on record as stating Felix Doubront would win between 15-18 games. Since then Doubront has won a grand total of ten games.

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