If you were not among the select few who attended an Eduardo Rodriguez start during spring training a few months ago, the unfortunate reality is that you have yet to see the 31-year-old pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This is despite his signing a lucrative four-year, $80 million contract with the Diamondbacks in early December, one of many offseason moves by Arizona that have not gone exactly as planned.
Rodriguez’s injury saga began on March 19th, when he left a spring training game against the Cubs in the first inning. A few days later, manager Tory Lovullo downplayed the injury, noting his concern was “minimal” and attributing it to some lat discomfort.
Subsequently, it was revealed that Rodriguez’s status for Opening Day was uncertain. Shortly after, it was announced that the highly anticipated offseason addition would begin the 2024 season on the 60-day IL with a left lat strain.
Since then, it has been a series of setbacks, with Rodriguez starting and stopping his throwing program due to pain or tightness. He most recently began another throwing program about a month ago, shortly after Torey Lovullo expressed regret over how the entire injury situation was handled.
However, there is finally some good news. According to Theo Mackie at AZCentral, Lovullo noted that Rodriguez should start throwing off a mound next week after his MRI results showed “almost 100% healing.”
Rodriguez spent the first six seasons of his MLB career with the Boston Red Sox, where he recorded 64 wins, struck out over 1,100 batters, and had an ERA of 4.16. He also won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2018, serving as a crucial piece out of their bullpen for most of the postseason run.
After his tenure with the Red Sox, Rodriguez played with the Tigers for the past two seasons. In 2023, he went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA.
Stay tuned for further updates.
