Red Sox News: Eduardo Rodriguez exits early due to migraine symptoms

Red Sox lose Eduardo Rodriguez early to a migraine

Friday night was set, and if you know anything, nothing beats a Friday night at Fenway Park. The Red Sox and Yankees were geared up for the second game of their quartet of duels with Eduardo Rodriguez standing across from Gerrit Cole. While the first inning went smooth for Boston’s big lefty, the train went off the tracks for the southpaw in the second and he couldn’t recover.

Eddie gave up an RBI knock to Brett Gardner and instantly went into a crouched stance. Any sports fan, especially baseball fans, knows that when a pitcher does that things have to be bad. Usually, that type of reaction means bad things and we probably won’t be seeing that hurler on the mound for some time. For E-Rod, the positive news is that he wasn’t crippled due to any muscles or ligaments giving out on him, but his head.

Shortly after being pulled from the game in the second inning the Red Sox reported that he was pulled due to migraine symptoms and he couldn’t go on. That’s some damn good news as migraines can be treated in the short term as long as they’re not a chronic disability.

Those that suffer from them, and I can speak from a personal history here, they’re some of the most painful things that a person can go through. Getting Eduardo out of the game right away before it could get worse was the smart move by Alex Cora and the training staff.

Things had been turning around for Eddie after a hot start to the 2021 campaign had turned ice cold. Red Sox Nation had been seeing the guy that we had fallen in love with in 2019 when he became the ace and workhorse of this pitching staff.

He got off to a quick 5-0 start this season before he ran into some starts where he just didn’t have his best stuff. While I’m no doctor, just want to get that out of the way quickly, it seemed as if he ran out of steam and his endurance was sapped. This should come as no surprise with his battle with not just COVID but also myocarditis last year.

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We still don’t know the long-term effects of the virus on those that have had it and overcome it. Celtics fans should be more than familiar with seen Jayson Tatum battling with exhaustion long after being cleared of COVID. I wouldn’t be surprised that Eddie was still working through some stuff and while he showed great resolve in spring training and the beginning of the season, it could’ve caught up to him. Luckily for the Red Sox, he’s refound himself and has been reliable as all hell once again in his last handful of starts.

Hopefully, this is just a blip on the radar and not another side effect of COVID that we have yet to find. Migraines are no joke and I wouldn’t even wish them on my worst enemy, let alone someone that is as good a guy as E-Rod. I’m sure he didn’t want to come out of the game tonight but he knew deep down that he wouldn’t be able to put Boston in a good position to win, especially against the Yankees. The best option was to pull him early before his arm could get worked and let him hydrate and work through the symptoms.

The Red Sox pitching staff has been remarkable this season in the sense that the team has only needed six starters through the first half of the year. Injuries have yet to find this rotation and despite some poor starts, everyone has remained healthy. Though it isn’t the best thing in the world to lose one of your starters after only an inning of work I’d rather it happen due to a migraine than a serious injury. I hope Eddie is able to find some comfort and peace tonight and get back to the mound sooner rather than later.