- Rating: 5.12
- MLB Stats: 10 games, 3-4, 5.04 ERA/84 ERA+, 1.50 WHIP, 0.2/0.3 bWAR/fWAR
- Date of birth: 4/7/1993
- Earnings: $20 million
- 2025 status: Under contract through 2027 + ‘28 mutual option
At the time of the signing, bringing Eduardo Rodriguez into the fold was the peak of the Diamondbacks offseason. Picking up arguably the best left handed pitcher on the market, for a fairly reasonable $20 million per year was seemed like a great choice, and the Wisdom of the Crowds agreed, with a whopping 90% of those polled in Jim’s kneejerk reaction poll declaring it good or great. He also seemed thrilled to be here, citing both the up and coming team, and his ability to spend the entire year with his family, as reasons he was excited to be here.
It seemed as though the top three spots in the rotation were set and ready to roll with Rodriguez providing that much needed extra arm in the rotation that arguably cost the team the World Series in 2023. Even before Montgomery was brough on at the end of spring training, it looked like the Diamondback might have one of the better paper rotations in baseball. Then disaster struck.
One week before the season was set to begin, Rodriguez experienced what was initially described as a shoulder strain, then later a lat strain, and he started the season in the IL. Within a week of the injury, he was already in a throwing program trying to get back on the field. One more week later and he suffered a setback leading to him ending up on the 60-day IL.
If it seems like that might have had a direct connection to him being rushed back, Lovullo would agree with you. “I think we all learned a very valuable lesson. The Athlete felt great, he looked great, he knew his body. We were using our instincts and his, and it just was probably a little bit too soon. We may have gone a little bit too fast with E-Rod and we’ll learn from that,” he said
Ultimately, he would not make his regular season debut for the Diamondbacks until August 7th against the Cleveland Guardians. He went 5 2⁄3 inning, giving up three runs on four hits. It was especially of value as it was the first game of a double header, and he was able to give the bullpen some rest, which seemed as though they always needed.
From then on, he just never seemed to find his groove. Of his 11 starts, only four of them saw him give up fewer than three runs, and he gave up five three times. It’s simplistic, but the biggest thing that seemed to be holding him back was just giving up too many hits. Per nine innings this season, he was giving up 10.1. It was only the second time in nine seasons that he had given up more that 9.0, and it was 1.5 H/9 higher than his career norms. Directly correlating with this was a huge increase in opposing hitters barreling up the ball against him. For his career, he normally gives up barrels 6.8% of the time, but this season it was 10.8% of the time. Whatever he was doing out there on the mound, it wasn’t working.
Given the three guaranteed years still on his contract, the Diamondbacks will be sure to try and figure out how to get those numbers closer to his career norms. Perhaps a new pitching coach will help with that, and Kaplan will be able to find something to give him a new tact to take. If he can return to the form that the Diamondbacks were expecting at the moment of signing, he could be just as huge for them this season as we all expected him to be last season. Without him and Montgomery, the Diamondbacks were once again sorely missing a third dependable arm in the rotation, especially with the injuries to Gallen and Kelly at different points in the year. Given they were just a single extra win away from the playoffs, a fully operational Rodriguez could easily provide that and more in 2025.