When the Detroit Tigers signed left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to a five-year, $77 million contract last November, the agreement signified the organization’s push for a long-awaited appearance in the postseason.
Rodriguez, a 2018 World Series winner as a member of the Boston Red Sox, was supposed to pave the way for his peers. Manager A.J. Hinch said the Tigers would look to him for leadership based on his past experiences.
He only made 17 starts in 2022.
“I’m going to prepare myself in the offseason to throw 30-plus starts next year,” Rodriguez said Oct. 4, after his final start in a difficult season for both parties. He posted a 4.05 ERA, and the Tigers finished 66-96 overall.
After signing the big contract, Rodriguez received the nod as the Opening Day starter. The Tigers hoped he would pitch like he did in the 2019 campaign with the Red Sox, when he tossed more than 200 innings with more than 200 strikeouts and finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting.
They expected the seven-year MLB veteran to anchor the starting rotation.
That didn’t happen.
Rodriguez owns a 4.15 ERA throughout his career and has completed more than 30 starts just twice, in 2019 and 2021. After a rocky first season in Detroit, Rodriguez’s ability to stabilize the rotation as an ace-caliber pitcher, or at least a No. 2 starter, is in the balance.
“In Boston, the year that I threw 200 innings, the year before, I threw like 130 innings, something like that,” Rodriguez said. “I know how to handle it and I know how to do it, so I’ll get ready in the offseason for next year.”
Rodriguez, worth 0.6 fWAR, ended the 2022 season with a 4.05 ERA, 34 walks and 72 strikeouts over 91 innings. He also threw 18 innings across four starts in the minor leagues, bringing his total to 109 innings.
Most of his summer, from June 13 through Aug. 19, was spent on the restricted list for a personal issue; he relinquished approximately $5 million of his $14 million salary. Before the restricted list, Rodriguez had been on the injured list since May 22 with a left ribcage sprain.
Upon his return, he logged a 3.81 ERA in nine starts to wrap up his season.
“Time off always affects you as a pitcher,” Rodriguez said. “The way that I ended, I feel good with it.”
This season, Rodriguez’s pitch usage was perplexing: 36.3% four-seam fastballs, 24.7% cutters, 18.8% sinkers, 16.2% changeups and 4.0% sliders. He threw 19.4% changeups in April but allowed three home runs that month, all on changeups. After that, his cutter and sinker became his primary secondary pitches — complementing his 92 mph four-seamer — for the rest of the year.
“He got a little cutter happy when he first came over here,” Hinch said Sept. 17.
In 2021, Rodriguez threw 40% four-seamers, 23% changeups, 17.7% cutters, 11.2% sinkers and 8.1% sliders. His changeup, averaging more than 16 inches of horizontal movement to his arm side, had a 29.0% swing-and-miss rate, which resembled this year’s 26.5% whiff rate.
But Rodriguez didn’t throw his changeup as often this season. His four-seamer and cutter were above-average pitches, yet he became somewhat predictable with a heavy two-pitch mix. It’s not surprising his strikeout rate dipped from a career-best 27.4% to a career-worst 18.4% between 2021 and 2022.
“He’s not done down-and-away to right-handed hitters with the sinker or the changeup very much,” Hinch said Sept. 17, after Rodriguez’s changeup helped him tackle the Chicago White Sox. “He’s relying heavily on the four-seam a little more up and the cutter. It’s just more returning to form for him. … For the most part, it’s a commitment to pitching like he used to do more of.”
Going into next season, the Tigers are confident Rodriguez will manage the new pitch clock with ease. Pitchers have 15 seconds to throw a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base.
Rodriguez averaged 9.4 seconds when pitching with the bases empty in 2022, according to Statcast, and 15.1 seconds with a runner on base. His new teammates noticed his fast tempo, which surely plays into his calm demeanor on the mound.
“I think he keeps everybody in the game and keeps everybody engaged,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said Sept. 29. “You don’t fall back on your heels and look around in the stands because you know the next pitch is coming. … My favorite guy I’ve ever played with and caught was Wade Miley, and he was just about as fast as they come in terms of tempo. I welcome fast tempo.”
Moving from one pitch to the next, regardless of the outcome, is one of Rodriguez’s strengths on the mound. While that type of mindset is crucial to success, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, as exemplified by Rodriguez’s results this season.
Both the Tigers and Rodriguez need bounce-back performances in 2023.
And Rodriguez has a lot to prove.
“We ended the season the right way,” Rodriguez said, alluding to the Tigers’ 11-5 record in their final 16 games. “We ended the season winning a lot of games. We had good experiences, especially for the young guys that we have. I feel like you learn more from the bad things that happen than the good things. I know they learned a lot from what happened to the whole team this year. I know we’re going to be a good team next year because of everything they’ve learned already.”