Boston Red Sox: Eduardo Rodriguez 2020 season looks promising

Eduardo Rodriguez had a career year in 2019 and has looked phenomenal so far this Spring. Any hopes the Boston Red Sox have of making the postseason lie on his shoulders.

There’s no debate that Eduardo Rodriguez was the most important member of the Boston Red Sox’ starting rotation last season.

Chris Sale, David Price, and Nathan Eovaldi dealt with injuries and bouts of ineffectiveness. The Sox had to implement the “opener” strategy, and let’s just say that Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez didn’t exactly light the world on fire.

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So far this (now canceled) Spring Training, ERod has shown some encouraging signs that 2019 wasn’t a fluke, and his 2020 may see him emerge as one of the premier lefties in the game.

Last year, Rodriguez made 34 starts which led the American League.

In what amounted to a disappointing year for the Red Sox, Rodriguez probably should have been a 20-game winner but fell one win short going 19-6. He had a 3.81 ERA, his lowest in five years as a big leaguer.

Rodriguez tossed 203 innings which was encouraging because he has battled some knee issues in the past. He struck out 213 batters, which was 63 more than his previous high.

According to Matt Collins of Over The Monster, the most positive thing to take away from his 2019 performance was that he increased his ground ball rate to 48 percent after three straight seasons being below 40 percent.

Additionally, he was inducing weaker contact. His hard-hit ball rate was in the top 4 percent in all of baseball.

Before the Grapefruit League season was suspended, ERod started three games and notched 11 innings of work.

He’s struck out 20 batters, including 10 in four innings during his last start Wednesday against the Rays. His four-seam fastball, coupled with a particularly devastating changeup handled a Tampa lineup that consisted mostly of probable starters. This wasn’t a AA lineup he was facing.

Baseball-Reference predicts the following numbers for Rodriguez in 2020: 14-7 W-L, 4.01 ERA, 173 IP, and 187 K’s. Again, it’s difficult to predict most of these stats now that the season has been delayed, but I’d bet the farm that Rodriguez’ ERA is under four.

He’s in his age 27 season, usually considered prime for a major leaguer. It seems like he’s learned how to pitch, and not just throw the ball.

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Rodriguez’ health has improved, and all signs point to a monster year. He and Nathan Eovaldi ended the shortened spring with a combined 0.53 ERA. With Sale on the mend and Price now pitching in Dodger blue, let’s hope that a new pair of aces emerge for the Red Sox.

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