The Boston Red Sox are set to call up top pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez as he is expected to pitch Thursday night in Texas. Rodriguez was sent to Boston as part of the Andrew Miller trade during last years trade deadline. Rodriguez was the 18th ranked prospect as of yesterday according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. According to manager John Farrell the initial plan is to move the rotation back for him to make a spot start.
“Very good stuff. Very good ability with his fastball, a lot of strikes, a lot of power to it,” Farrell said. “Changeup is a true weapon for him. The slider is a pitch that continues to come along. We wanted to build in the extra day for guys and get his debut kind of under his belt before we may possibly need him later on in the season.”
However, when asked what would happen if Rodriguez pitched “really, really, really well,” Farrell responded, “Then we’ll have to really, really, really reconsider.”
Catcher Blake Swihart was excited to hear the news that Rodriguez would be joining the team. The two built a report during their AAA playing days in Pawtucket as he was the top rated catching prospect heading into this season.
“He’s not scared to go after guys,” Swihart noted. “He’s very confident out there on the mound and he goes out there with the confidence that he’s going to win the battle. To just have a guy who goes out there and competes like that is nice.
“He just went out there and was consistent every time. You know you’re going to get a good game out of him, even if he doesn’t have his best stuff that day. … When you make it look easy to throw 95 it’s pretty easy to go with that. It’s just sneaky. Everything is hard. Slider is hard. Changeup is hard. And everything moves so much it’s effective.”
The hard throwing lefty has a lofty 2.98 ERA in eight starts with Triple-A Pawtucket. Boston’s starting rotation has the worst ERA in the American league at 5.10. Rodriguez has pitched well in the minors as he is fully deserving of his chance in the bigs. The hope for Boston is he can provide much needed depth in an underachieving group.
