Entering his fifth season for the Boston Red Sox, it’s time for Eduardo Rodriguez to unleash his full potential on the world.
To be elite. A dream of many and obtained by very few. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez of the Boston Red Sox has a chance to be among the elite pitchers in the American League in 2019.
A full season and continued improvement could very well elevate Rodriguez into that upper echelon of starting pitchers.
In 2018, Rodriguez enjoyed a breakout season. Showing improved command and a nice strikeout rate, Rodriguez earned his full-time role in the rotation. He repaid the Red Sox by steamrolling through opponents the first half of the season.
Rodriguez started of 9-1 in 2018, lost his next two starts, but bounced back nicely in the starts after. On July 14 and a record of 11-3, Rodriguez found himself on the injured list thanks to an ankle injury.
Roughly six weeks later, Rodriguez was back on the hill in a September 1 start against the Chicago White Sox. The result was arguably his best start of the season, a 12-strikeout performance, scattering only three hits and one run over 5.2 innings.
After that start, Rodriguez had a few more in him but was mostly used in a relief role for the rest of the regular season. Overall, he finished the season with a 13-5 record in 23 starts (and 27 total appearances). Rodriguez finished with 146 strikeouts and held opponents to a .238 batting average.
A jump in 2019 can be expected for Rodriguez, especially if he displays the aggression manager Alex Cora desires of him. Here are three regular season goals for Rodriguez in 2019.
Make 30 starts
Making 30 starts in a season is pretty much the standard for a top-line starting pitcher. And for Eduardo Rodriguez to achieve this goal, he’s going to need to put in a full season of action for the Boston Red Sox.
The ankle injury derailed Rodriguez in 2018 and stints spent in the minor league in seasons prior kept him from making this many starts.
A season blessed with good health and productivity should get him to this goal. Rodriguez has a career-high of 24 starts, which he made in the 2017 season.
Barring a major setback, the days of bouncing back and forth between the major and minor leagues should be long gone. Settling into the rotation, anywhere from the third to the fifth slot, will give Rodriguez plenty of chances to duplicate his first half success from 2018.
15 wins and 170 innings
Notching thirty starts is attainable, which means logging 170 innings pitched and collecting 15 wins isn’t a goal to be laughed at.
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Eduardo Rodriguez, in 2018, made quality starts in 18 of his 23 starts for the Boston Red Sox while collecting 13 wins. He tends to pitch 5-7 innings, quite the norm in this day and age. Rodriguez had six games in the regular season in which he gave up five runs, but never any more than that.
Averaging six innings per start would be a bonus and get him to the desired goal of 170 innings pitched. Rodriguez tossed 129.2 in 2018, second most in his career behind the 137.1 he pitched in 2017.
Individual wins for pitchers are not valued as they used to be, but still important. Bettering his mark from last season is doable, especially with the five-inning threshold he continually reaches.
Rodriguez had a 3-1 May last season with with 43 strikeouts, including a 10-K performance against the Texas Rangers. If he did this every month, Rodriguez could easily get 16-18 wins.
Still, even if Rodriguez delivered on the 170 innings pitched with an ERA around 3.00 but failed to get to 15 wins, all would not be lost. It would likely mean he’s holding up his end of the pitching bargain in 2019.
An All-Star and Cy Young contender
Trucking along in 2018, Eduardo Rodriguez seemed a lock to earn his first All-Star nomination.
The ankle injury, of course, set notions of that aside and Rodriguez had to settle for “only” a solid season.
If he continues down this path of pitching well, the individual accolades will surely arrive for Rodriguez. There’s no better way to start than by making an All-Star appearance in 2019. As far as individual goal awards go, this one should be good to go for Rodriguez if he repeats last season’s first-half performance.
Dreaming of loftier goals can be fun, so why not expect Rodriguez to be a Cy Young Award contender. Playing at that level will require an extra-special season, one that is not beyond the grasp of Rodriguez.
Knocking out the goals mentioned prior would be a good start and, if he exceeds those, then a top-3 finish in voting would not be out of the question.
And if that happens, the Boston Red Sox are going to be hard pressed to be taken down as defending World Series Champions.