Player #3: Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez
This is probably the one I’m the most interested in keeping my eye on this weekend. Eduardo Rodriguez emerged as Boston’s best pitcher in 2019 and was taken out by a combination of COVID and myocarditis in 2020. After a long arduous road back to the mound he was electric in spring training until a case of dead arm forced him out of Opening Day.
Since his return though he has been strong for the Red Sox and got off to a hot 5-0 start. The thing is, it looks as if the carriage has turned back into a pumpkin for E-Rod as he’s dropped his last three starts and hasn’t looked sharp at all. It’s hard to tell if it’s the dead arm kicking in again or if he’s still dealing with fatigue from his illness, but it’s been a tale of two Eddies.
Look at his stats split between his wins and losses:
- Wins: 25H/10ER/5BB/28K
- Losses: 23H/13ER/5BB/21K
His innings haven’t dipped and his pitch counts still flirt with 100 per game but he hasn’t been hitting his mark and it’s hurt badly. I think this series could be big for him to get back on track and get back to how the first month of the season went for him. He finished April with a 3.52 ERA while it skyrocketed to 5.03 in May. Going against the Marlins may give him the opportunity to tighten his mechanics and get back to what saw him succeed early in 2021.