Saturday’s start began with great promise.
The Red Sox jumped out to a sizable early lead against a team that doesn’t do much of anything well.
Perfect conditions for Eduardo Rodriguez to get himself back on track.
And at first, it seemed like that would be the case; he allowed just one base runner through the first two innings. Even the third went okay -- mainly thanks to Mookie Betts gunning down Eduardo Nunez at second after E-Rod walked Minnesota’s No. 9 hitter, Byron Buxton.
After that, however, the roof pretty much caved in: He was lifted after 4 2/3 innings with the score tied, 4-4. He was pretty much an afterthought after the Sox scored 11 consecutive runs for a 15-4 victory, but, considering Boston's need for pitching, his problems can't be considered a back-burner issue.
Following the start, Rodriguez said his location needed to get better.
“I have to work more on the command with my pitches,” he said. “That’s the part I need to fix.”
Boston Red Sox
While that’s true -- given he walked four batters in 4 2/3 innings -- his problem doesn’t seem to flat out come down to his command alone.
It’s his inability to finish off hitters.
Of the 23 batters Rodriguez faced, he threw a first-pitch strike in 18 instances -- a good start. Two of those hitters were retired on the first pitch, and he also gave up a first-pitch single to Max Kepler in the fourth.
Excluding those three batters, E-Rod got ahead 0-and-2 in five of the remaining the 15 cases -- also giving up two hits and got an out after he got ahead 0-and1.
Lastly, E-Rod worked into a 1-and-2 count -- after falling into a 1-and-1 or 1-abd-0 count -- seven times.
To sum it up, Rodriguez was ahead 0-and-1 69.6 percent of the time (excluding first-pitch strikes put in play) and also got into a very, pitcher-friendly count over half the time.
So he did a great job getting ahead. But he struggled to put guys away.
Of his four walks, two came after he got ahead 0-and-2 and one came when worked into a 1-and-2 count.
In looking at the hits, he gave up two in a 0-and-1 count, one 0-and-2 and one 1-and-2 -- another came in a 2-and-2 count that gotten to 1-and-2. One of those 0-and-1 counts was Kurt Suzuki’s home run.
Of the 12 times Rodriguez buried a hitter 0-and-2 or 1-and-2, the runner reached base five times. Those are counts were a pitcher has a batter on his heels -- not the other way around.
When Rodriguez prepares for his next start, he needs to revisit not only his command, but also his decision-making process once he gets ahead of hitters.
The lefty seems to find situations where he can succeed, but continues to shoot himself in the foot.