Watch CBS News

Eduardo Rodriguez Has Potential To Be Significant Addition To 2016 Red Sox

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- As the month of May draws to a close, the Boston Red Sox are sitting pretty. After Monday's Memorial Day victory, they remarkably own the best record in the entire American League, and they're two games up on the Baltimore Orioles atop the AL East standings.

It's a major turnaround, obviously, from the past two seasons in last place -- they were four games back of first place last year at the end of May, and six games back at the end of May in 2014.

Yet, for all the excitement the offense has delivered, and for the relative steadiness of the bullpen, all observers of this year's team recognize that if the Red Sox are to actually contend come October, they're going to need to add one or two starting pitchers to solidify the rotation.

That's why Eduardo Rodriguez's season debut on Tuesday night in Baltimore has the potential to carry slightly more significance than it normally would for a team sitting in first place.

Again, for as much success as the Red Sox have found en route to building their 31-20 record, there's no getting around the fact that their starters' ERA sits at 4.60, which ranks them 11th in the American League. They're much closer to the worst of the pack (Minnesota; 5.25 ERA) than the best (Texas; 3.45 ERA). And that's despite the unforeseen success of Steven Wright (2.45 ERA over 69.2 IP) and the just-as-unlikely output from Rick Porcello (3.68 ERA over 63.2 IP). It's a number that's been dragged down by Clay Buchholz's 6.35 ERA as a starter (prior to his move to the bullpen), and it's not helped by David Price's 5.11 ERA or the output of Joe Kelly, Henry Owens and Sean O'Sullivan, who fill out the rest of the starters' innings and own a combined 6.33 ERA over their 42.2 IP.

All of which points the spotlight squarely on Rodriguez, who was historically dominant in his first three starts last year (0.44 ERA over 20.2 IP) before stumbling for two months (6.40 ERA over 57.2 IP). He recovered nicely to end the year, going 4-1 with a 2.08 over the last month-plus, setting him up to be a promising member of the rotation in 2016.

Of course, that hopefulness was postponed in the spring, when Rodriguez tweaked his knee while shagging fly balls. He won't be at 100 percent now, and he'll be sporting a knee brace on the mound, but the potential impact he could make on the entire 2016 season nevertheless should not go overlooked.

It would be wrong to place too much pressure on Rodriguez to be some sort of savior. Yet if one assumes that Price will be more of a 3.00 ERA type of pitcher than a 5-plus ERA pitcher, then all the Red Sox would need out of Rodriguez is a pitcher with an ERA in the high 3's who can consistently pitch into the sixth or seventh inning every fifth day.

Considering Rodriguez pitched six or more innings in 13 of his 21 starts last year, averaging just under six innings per start, and considering he finished the year with a 3.85 ERA, such expectations shouldn't be too lofty.

The Red Sox won't get all the answers from one start, but Tuesday night will be the first step toward learning whether that shopping list might be a little shorter for Dave Dombrowski in the weeks leading up to the midsummer trade deadline.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.