5. Eduardo Rodriguez will back up the Red Sox rotation
When the Red Sox brought over Rodriguez when they dealt away Andrew Miller a few years back, Red Sox nation was really excited to see what he could bring to the future of the Red Sox. The flame-throwing, young left-hander has all the tools to be one of baseball’s most dominant arms; however, injuries have plagued Eduardo Rodriguez so far throughout his Major League career. With a knee injury a season ago sidelining him for most of the first half, we saw Rodriguez actual potential when he settled into his game in the middle of July.
It is proven that Rodriguez has top of the staff type stuff as he sees fastball reach the upper 90’s with a knockout slider and changeup.
Expecting a 1, 2, 3 of Sale, Price and Porcello, it should be a dogfight for the fourth and fifth spot between Steven Wright, Drew Pomeranz and Rodriguez.
Next: Red Sox sign Carlos Quentin
If Rodriguez can put all his tools together consistently and stay healthy, he could be the anchor of the back end of the Boston staff and win 12-15 games this year. Say Rodriguez dominates to his ability as the No. 4 or 5 starter, he can help the Red Sox go to special places this summer because we know he has dominating stuff.