Say what you will about Eddie Rodriguez — as long as it does not question his ability as an MLB starting pitcher.
Sunday was a prime example of why the Boston Red Sox were so pumped about giving up Andrew Miller for the guy with a 4.79 ERA in Double-A two years ago. Rodriguez had a no-hitter through 7.2 innings and allowed just one hit in eight innings. Yes, it was against the Oakland Athletics. But man, what a performance.
His on the year stats have people questioning him: 2-6 with a 4.83 ERA in 15 starts. But that’s not indicative of how he is as a pitcher.
For pitchers, remember this: wins and losses are meaningless. Yes, they matter to the team. But he can’t control how many runs the offense behind him scores. That’s why Brandon Workman was 1-10 in 2014. Sure, he kind of pitched like dog dung at times, but even his poor pitching wasn’t a 1-10 guy.
Since being called up again — Rodriguez actually owns a 2.73 ERA in nine starts and opposing hitters are hitting just .200 with a .582 OPS off him. What’s his record in that time? 1-3. Yeah. Wins and losses are stupid.
What really impressed yesterday nearly as much as the no hitter was the time of day. Rodriguez usually can’t pitch during the day. He dominated Sunday day.
No pitch tipping either. It was pleasant.
If you think about it too, the Red Sox rotation is pretty solid right now. Rick Porcello is a Cy Young Award Candidate, David Price and Drew Pomeranz seem to have things figured out and heck, even Clay Buchholz isn’t even too bad. Definitely a nice long relief option for the postseason. It’s just a shame John Farrell broke Steven Wright.
Full strength, the Red Sox might not even need Rodriguez in the postseason. They have more experienced starters. And who knows what there plan is for the bullpen? But he could have a bright future with this team.