Is Eduardo Rodriguez Tipping His Pitches Again? You Be The Judge [PHOTOS]
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Red Sox southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez struggled yet again Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles, and manager John Farrell told reporters after the game that the problem with E-Rod has been the location of his pitches. But the real problem might be that hitters know what's coming.
After last season's issues with tipping his pitches, Rodriguez may be lapsing into the same problem. This time, it wasn't the NESN broadcast that pointed out the problem - it was former Red Sox player Lou Merloni, who knows a thing or two about hitting in the major leagues.
In 2015, the issue with Rodriguez tipping pitches was with the position of his head. Thursday night, it was the position of his glove.
Farrell was asked about Rodriguez possibly tipping his pitches and insisted that the problem is more with his approach than anything physical.
"There are times when [Rodriguez] hasn't forced the hitter to swing the bat before then going to change speeds," Farrell said after the game. "It's somewhat the sequence and certainly the location."
Look closely at the screenshots below. You can see that he holds his throwing hand at a slightly downward angle on off-speed pitches, like the changeup in the above photo, while his hand and wrist is straight on fastballs like the one in the bottom photo. Baltimore's Adam Jones crushed that fastball for a two-run homer in the top of the third inning.
Sometimes, that one little detail is all professional hitters need to know what pitch is coming. Jones certainly looked like he was sitting on a fastball with the way he turned on the pitch.
Even if Rodriguez really is tipping his pitches again, it's still just one thing that he needs to fix. If you leave a fastball right over the plate and up in the zone like he did with Jones, many hitters are going to crush that pitch even if they don't know it's coming.
Farrell and pitching coach Carl Willis reportedly held a closed-door meeting with Rodriguez after the game to talk about what they need to fix. Rodriguez is 1-2 with a 6.97 ERA in four starts since returning from the disabled list, but is in no imminent danger of losing his spot in the rotation.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
