ERod Thread 2019

BaseballJones

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Since his two "nuclear" games (as Eck put it last night), ERod has pitched three times, putting up this combined line: 18.0 ip, 12 h, 7 r, 6 er, 4 bb, 21 k, 3.00 era, 0.89 whip, 10.5 k/9

That's why he's always been so tantalizing as a prospect. The ability to do that. The question, as always, is consistency. Can he keep doing this? If not, well same old ERod. If he can, well now.
 

donutogre

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effectivelywild

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Here is the full quote from e-rod

It still astonishes me that Pedroia, a player to whom I assume has not pitched in years, would go up to a major league pitcher and basically say "oh hey, want me to show you how to throw a good pitch, even though I have not thrown a pitch at any level of professional baseball?" and that the pitcher would be like "oh yeah, sure, cool, let me test it out." The incredible confidence of that guy.
 

garlan5

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It still astonishes me that Pedroia, a player to whom I assume has not pitched in years, would go up to a major league pitcher and basically say "oh hey, want me to show you how to throw a good pitch, even though I have not thrown a pitch at any level of professional baseball?" and that the pitcher would be like "oh yeah, sure, cool, let me test it out." The incredible confidence of that guy.
that astonishes you more than a mlb pitcher not knowing how to throw a breaking pitch. you would think he's run across somebody by now
 

uncannymanny

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Brooks shows that his slider was indeed different last night, with slightly less horizontal movement and about 6 inches more drop than in his starts so far.

What’s up with the sinker last night? Also, how do you read this? I’m assuming the FB doesn’t have 8” of vertical rise.
 

RFDA2000

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I believe all measurements are calculated as compared to the distance a ball would fall under gravity with no spin.
 

effectivelywild

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that astonishes you more than a mlb pitcher not knowing how to throw a breaking pitch. you would think he's run across somebody by now
I prefer to believe that Pedroia was just casually throwing balls with someone and one took a real nasty turn and he realized he had accidentally discovered a nasty slider grip and thought "jeez, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?"
 

Al Zarilla

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I prefer to believe that Pedroia was just casually throwing balls with someone and one took a real nasty turn and he realized he had accidentally discovered a nasty slider grip and thought "jeez, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?"
This, and Pedey has a ton of time sitting in the dugout with a baseball in his hand and so he tries different grips because he’s a baseball nut. And, he gets out and throws with the grips when he gets a chance, which is often.
 

DeadlySplitter

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7 scoreless tonight, only a couple innings where he nibbled.

last Saturday he had the benefit of that insane 10 hits in a row for the Sox offense, and had a rough first two innings, but managed to settle and go 6 IP, 2 ER.

more of this please going forward. it's pretty simple formula for this point for when he's good, bordering on elite and when he sucks
 

DeadlySplitter

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Despite 4 ER tonight, the 7 IP and settling down after the 4th left positive thoughts as ERod bookended the 5-1 road trip.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2019/06/19/eduardo-rodriguez-gave-red-sox-quantity-start/OW6VCrWlHJoUezmghbOtON/story.html
not including tonight, his WHIP is 1.342 (11 hits/walks in 7 IP tonight, so that went up a bit) and his FIP is 3.84. his ERA is now 4.71. I would attribute that difference to his tendency to blow up when nibbling and getting into trouble, a lot of that in April. ERA+ of 100 - dead average. he's providing decent value as a #3-4 starter, but has not made the leap yet this season.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Going deep was important with the bullpen gassed after the 17 innings the night before.

Losing concentration for those two HR in one inning is just something we have to get used to.

I've seen zero analysis of the affects of the Mound Visits rules, but I wonder if there has been any research on if it has affected young pitchers more than older ones.
 

joe dokes

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Going deep was important with the bullpen gassed after the 17 innings the night before.
Losing concentration for those two HR in one inning is just something we have to get used to.
I've seen zero analysis of the affects of the Mound Visits rules, but I wonder if there has been any research on if it has affected young pitchers more than older ones.
Following up on the above, and puling the below from the gamethread.....

whoah there Alex, don't push it.
https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/1141561933927243776"Of note from #RedSox postgame clubhouse: Cora intended to send Rodriguez out for the 8th inning at 111 pitches but scrapped that after a long top of the inning. "
As far as I can recall, ERod has been the most consistent target of tough love from Cora, at least publicly. These last two starts were pretty big in the "we really need you" category. Even if he gave up 8 runs, but pitched 7 innings, he'd still get a pat on the back for "saving the bullpen." But obviously he did much more than that. I don't know what his ceiling is, but I hope these last two starts go a long way toward enabling him to get out of his own way to reach it. With that in mind, I suspect Cora was telling the truth about the 8th inning, but consistent with his approach to ERod, maybe he wasn't. What he said is a really good no-downside chance to blow some nice confidence-building smoke up his ass. I wasn't watching, and was fading while listening - did Barnes start warming up at the begining of the 8th, or only after things started to get more out of hand?
 

Just a bit outside

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Following up on the above, and puling the below from the gamethread.....



As far as I can recall, ERod has been the most consistent target of tough love from Cora, at least publicly. These last two starts were pretty big in the "we really need you" category. Even if he gave up 8 runs, but pitched 7 innings, he'd still get a pat on the back for "saving the bullpen." But obviously he did much more than that. I don't know what his ceiling is, but I hope these last two starts go a long way toward enabling him to get out of his own way to reach it. With that in mind, I suspect Cora was telling the truth about the 8th inning, but consistent with his approach to ERod, maybe he wasn't. What he said is a really good no-downside chance to blow some nice confidence-building smoke up his ass. I wasn't watching, and was fading while listening - did Barnes start warming up at the begining of the 8th, or only after things started to get more out of hand?
Barnes was warming before the Sox scored in the 8th.
 

Bleedred

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I know they're different pitchers, but I get a Jon Lester vibe from Erod in regards to his incremental but continued improvement over time. If memory serves, Lester struggled in his first 2 seasons with the Red Sox, particularly with consistency and command. Those 2 seasons were not full seasons, but he came into his own in his 3rd season and he was well on his way. Erod seems to me to be showing the same improvement, albeit taking him longer than Lester. If he could ever be 80% of the pitcher that Jon Lester was, we're in business.
 

shaggydog2000

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I know they're different pitchers, but I get a Jon Lester vibe from Erod in regards to his incremental but continued improvement over time. If memory serves, Lester struggled in his first 2 seasons with the Red Sox, particularly with consistency and command. Those 2 seasons were not full seasons, but he came into his own in his 3rd season and he was well on his way. Erod seems to me to be showing the same improvement, albeit taking him longer than Lester. If he could ever be 80% of the pitcher that Jon Lester was, we're in business.
But Erod's problems have mostly been health related. His walk rate in terms of % has never been as high as Lesters were in his first two seasons. I fact, they've been close to Lester's number during his breakout years. Erod's ERA- has been 93, 107, 92, 85, and 85 so far this season. He's been a solid pitcher who can't stay on the mound, averaging around 125 innings a year. But this year he's had health on his side, and he's pitched well. He could break out and be even better, and I hope he does, but he's more than earning his starts.
 

joe dokes

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Maybe that's why he didn't cover first base on the little looping single to the right side of the infield in the 3rd inning last night?
It crossed my mind. Not about his intent, but when I saw the replay I thought, "Close play, tough angle, I'm good with him standing and watching in an 7-0 game."
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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It's been health, but also consistency. He'll go on 3 or 4 game stretches where he looks like a budding ace, then put up 2 stinkers in a row (6 runs in 4 innings), followed up by a decent- 4 runs in 6 innings... another stinker... and then another 3-4 game ace like stretch. In years past it definitely has been injury related but this season he's had a few of those (I'll look at his game logs shortly) and they've seemed mental. When I've seen him on the mound, he does often seem his concentration can be bumped easily. Obviously, I can never know this.... but I always suspected his biggest problem was mental (90% of the game, right?). I had expectations for him to turn into a borderline ace by this point... while he's been great recently, my overall expectations have dropped and he's (in my mind) a "no.2.5" guy. An Andy Pettite (although Pettite had a serious killer instinct in big games) basically.

Edit- well yeah... a little confirmation on looking at his game logs. He's definitely going through one of his best stretches of his career right now. But his 2019 is noticeable in it's short stretches of alternating good and bad 3-4 games in a row.
 
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shaggydog2000

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It's been health, but also consistency. He'll go on 3 or 4 game stretches where he looks like a budding ace, then put up 2 stinkers in a row (6 runs in 4 innings), followed up by a decent- 4 runs in 6 innings... another stinker... and then another 3-4 game ace like stretch. In years past it definitely has been injury related but this season he's had a few of those (I'll look at his game logs shortly) and they've seemed mental. When I've seen him on the mound, he does often seem his concentration can be bumped easily. Obviously, I can never know this.... but I always suspected his biggest problem was mental (90% of the game, right?). I had expectations for him to turn into a borderline ace by this point... while he's been great recently, my overall expectations have dropped and he's (in my mind) a "no.2.5" guy. An Andy Pettite (although Pettite had a serious killer instinct in big games) basically.

Edit- well yeah... a little confirmation on looking at his game logs. He's definitely going through one of his best stretches of his career right now. But his 2019 is noticeable in it's short stretches of alternating good and bad 3-4 games in a row.
But isn't that the story on pitchers? Or baseball players in general. They can all look like word beaters on the right day, and even the best have bad luck days or off days and get shelled. It's how many of each they have that determines how good they are. Erod's been pretty good on average.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
I had expectations for him to turn into a borderline ace by this point... while he's been great recently, my overall expectations have dropped and he's (in my mind) a "no.2.5" guy. An Andy Pettite (although Pettite had a serious killer instinct in big games) basically.
Wait, your expectations have dropped and you think he's Andy Pettitte? Who did you think he was before, Randy Johnson?
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Wait, your expectations have dropped and you think he's Andy Pettitte? Who did you think he was before, Randy Johnson?
I mean... I'd be really happy with an Andy Pettite in the rotation for years- but I don't think anyone would ever argue that Pettite was ever an "ace" during his Yankees years. He was a very very good pitcher. Career ERA of 3.85 and WHiP of 1.35. I didn't claim that I thought EdRo was better than that... as much as I thought he WOULD be better than that.

But isn't that the story on pitchers? Or baseball players in general. They can all look like word beaters on the right day, and even the best have bad luck days or off days and get shelled. It's how many of each they have that determines how good they are. Erod's been pretty good on average.
Yeah... and I was thinking that as I was writing it- yes, it's the story of baseball from the fringe guys looking like dominant aces one start or from the Chris Sale looking like garbage occasionally. I think EdRod's inconsistency though has been... well... a consistent problem.... and it's what I had thought and hoped he would overcome and his inconsistency would become less an issue. I'm really not talking shit on the guy as much as I'm thinking what he is is his normal (he's got 3 seasons- some injury marred-to go on at this point). He won't ever be what I thought he was going to be, but he's still a very valuable pitcher (health and focus preventing consistent ((with the occcasional burp)) success).