3:41pm: Rodriguez’s ankle has “serious damage,” the Red Sox announced (via Sean McAdam of BostonSportsJournal.com). Rodriguez won’t need surgery, but he’ll be in a boot for two weeks before the team re-evaluates him.
9:40am: The Red Sox have placed left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez on the 10-day disabled list with a right ankle sprain, the team announced. In a corresponding move, Boston activated fellow southpaw Brian Johnson from the 10-day DL.
Rodriguez suffered the injury in Saturday’s start against Toronto, forcing him to depart after he spun 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Injury aside, the outing continued what has been a career-best season for the 25-year-old.
Boston has raced to the majors’ best record (67-30) thanks in no small part to Rodriguez, who has pitched to a 3.44 ERA/3.56 FIP with 9.46 K/9 and 2.75 BB/9 in 104 2/3 innings. His performance has helped offset David Price’s so-so season and given Boston another high-end starter along with Chris Sale and Rick Porcello.
With the All-Star break coming up, this may go down as a short absence for Rodriguez, though manager Alex Cora told reporters Saturday that the swelling in his ankle looked “bad.” If this injury proves to be serious, perhaps Boston will be more open to deepening its rotation prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline as it continues trying to hold off the Yankees in the AL East. The Red Sox do have some proven depth in the fold in Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz, but those two are also on the DL. For now, then, they’ll turn to Johnson to join Sale, Porcello, Price and Hector Velazquez in their rotation.
They only have the best record because they’ve had one of the easiest schedules.
Just stop being a complete tool. They have the best record because they have played the best in the first half period.
Bruin1012, nice to see this guy trolling Red Sox fans instead of Yankees fans for a change. You are 100% right this guy is a “complete tool”.
How are either of you going to take somebody seriously who’s handle is judge Judy!
Look up how many games they’ve played against very good teams such as Houston, Seattle and the Yankees. Not to mention good teams like the A’s, Braves, Angels and Rays. And oh yeah, up until a few days ago they had played the MOST road games in MLB.
I did look it up.
Against good teams like Houston, seattle, oakland and the yankees the Red sox are 11-14.
That’s the Sox record against the next 4 best records in the AL.
Funny how you tried to slip in middling teams like the rays and angels to cover up that record, lol
Boogaloo, the Sox and Yankees play the same AL schedule and the NL schedule is very similar as well.
Since the Red Sox win the division last year, their strength of schedule at the beginning of the year was harder than the Yankees. It’s no one’s fault other than the owners that there are only 4-5 good teams in the AL this year (Bos, Hou, NYY, Sea, Cle). When it is all said and done, Bos & NY will have played the same teams.
Experts say that the Sox have a more favorable 2nd half schedule than NY mainy due to the fact that the Sox have already had (3) 9-10 game road trips and are done for the season. Winning on the road is the true test of a good team and BOS has the best road record in baseball. Look what the Yankees just did against BAL & CLE; split against BAL (what a joke) and CLE as well. Winning baseball happens when you play the best teams at or slightly above .500 and then beat up on the rest of the teams. NY has proven they cannot do this so far.
You all realize that this is also the MLB, and anybody can beat anybody on any given day.
True, but some teams do have an advantage because of the unbalanced schedule. The Indians get to play 76 games against the Twins, Tigers, White Sox and Royals. Every team would rather have that schedule instead of having to play 38 games against the Red Sox and Yankees etc.
Agree. You can only play the schedule handed you. The Yankees and Sox actually have the same exact home record at the moment. I’ve said it before: let the season play out.
Crazy thing about the postseason schedule, the wildcard winner must play the division winner with the best record. That means whomever wins the AL East will have to play the AL East runner-up in the ALDS (assuming they both have the two best records in the league) which is not fair at all. It should be the AL team with the best record vs the remaining team with the worst record.
This very well could be the first year that a Wildcard winner has a better record than the Division winners from both the other divisions. So if let’s say the Red Sox win 111 games, the Yankees win 110 games, the Astros win 100 and the Indians win 92, it will be Astros vs Indians in the ALDS. That needs to be changed.
2015 NL Central. Guaranteed that 2 of the 3 best records were eliminated after just 1 multi-game round.
Doesn’t make it right. Assuming the WC winner is from the East, it guarantees a rating bonanza but one that will be just five games. Hopefully, the attention of it affecting two big market clubs that are arguably the two best (Houston is still the champ and the AL West is the most balanced which probably cosr them a few wins) will cause a change. Truth is we may not see a race like this for a long time. Then again, as a Sox fan, maybe there won’t be a race this year. 4.5 game lead…Seriously I said it earlier. Let’s enjoy and let the year unfold.
If the Yankees wouldn’t have lost 5 times to the Orioles maybe they would have the best record. And for all that talk about how the Rays are a AAAA team, they’re sitting above .500 and that includes the 9 games they’ve lost to Boston.
So try another argument
The Rays always seem to have enough talent for a winning record. If they could afford a real 5-man rotation, they’d be right up there.
Sounds like a NYY fan!
I think they have had a relatively lighter schedule, but they’re all major league teams. Great teams are *supposed* to dominate the lesser teams, and the Red Sox to their credit have done just that.
If they have had any advantage it’s their relative health to this point. Up until Rafael Devers hitting the disabled list this past week, and outside of a brief stint from Xander Boagarts early in the season, their starting 9 has been relatively healthy and on the field. Their top 3 pitchers coming into the season (Sale, Porcello, Price) have been healthy, too.
In fact the worst thing to happen to the Sox was the complete disappearance of Hanley Ramirez’ bat.
I’m not casting blame or looking for excuses for the Yankees, but impact players like Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Gleyber Torres, Tommy Kahnle, and Jordan Montgomery have all spent time on the DL.
Thankfully, the Yankees have survived (and excelled) because many of the call-ups and fill-ins have provided decent returns, but even some important replacements like Torres, Loaisiga, and Cole have gone down for stretches.
Losing Rodriguez will be a real blow if it’s more than a few starts. Injuries like that will truly test their mettle more than a tough schedule. I have no doubt they’ll win 110+ games, and the division is theirs to lose.
The Red Sox have dealt with there fair share of injury problems as well. Adam you failed to mention having Pom mostly out the entire season, starting catcher Christian Vasquez out with a broken pinky, Pedroia coming back for only a game and now probably out for the entire season, Wright who they counted on being able to pitch this year only going a few starts. I think Boston has had there fair share of injuries this year. Every team deals with injuries and unless you lose your whole starting staff like the Angels then I wouldn’t use injuries as an excuse.
Says the envious Yankees fan.
Jacob DeGrom to the Red Sox!
We can’t afford that unless Devers is a goner, which is possible I guess. The only downside then is that they’d have to turn around and pick up Beltre for this year, and then figure out a longer term solution later.
I don’t see the Red Sox trading Devers so really doubt the Sox will be able to get a DeGrom type. Maybe Evoldi but other teams could beat them out.
Sox have 8 starters.
Bullpen help instead.
They need both n quickly as they entering the dog days.
Yep you’re right now that the ankle injury is considered very serious. Yikes.
I believe DeGrom is worth a top rookie like Andujar/Torres/Devers, because you’ll have him for (potentially) THREE postseasons. I would love to see one of those teams bite the bullet and do that sort of deal. Would make the Sox/Yanks race all the more exciting.
Big daring trades are what make the deadline fun.
This Erod thing is worrying hopefully he comes back soon and it’s not a serious injury he has been the Sox second best pitcher for most of the year and was really hitting his stride was a 19 inning consecutive scoreless streak. Too bad but injuries happen just have to deal with it.
No, this injury would NOT have happened if Moreland had been playing instead of Swihart. And why was Swihart playing?
Blake Swihart had an awkward weekend. Still, you have to give BoSox credit for giving him playing time and evaluating him at the ML level. Baseball teams are as good as their weakest link. Both he and JBJ are slowly beginning to hit better. It would be a bigger disappointment if he went to another team a la. Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Max Muncy…. JD Martinez.
It’s never good policy to be held hostage by poor performers out of fear they may one day blossom. The percentage of players who go from bad over an extended period of time to good is very small.
Did you watch yesterday’s game? Besides the putrid throw to ERod, Swihart also made a major blunder by running from first base to second base on a routine fly ball to the outfield. It’s something you almost never see at the major league level.
You actually compared Swihart to JD Martinez and Justin Turner..WTF are you on
LOL.
“ala. Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Max Muncy…. JD Martinez” bruh you crazy as hell!
You never watched the Tigers under Allan Trammell and then Jim Leyland. Running and Fielding blunders were commonplace.
You should never mix lithium and Valium on an empty stomach.
They showcasing him for themselves n for a trade chip.
If Moreland had been playing, as he should have against a RHP, then Swihart wouldn’t have caused ERod’s injury. Did Cora give a reason why he benched an All-Star Gold Glove first baseman to play Swihart? Can’t be the usual “Day Off” BS since Moreland will have Monday, Wednesday and Thursday off this week.
And let’s not forget Wright going on the DL after being left in by Cora to give up 10 runs while hurt.
Bring back Bobby V!
True, but some teams do have an advantage because of the unbalanced schedule. The Indians get to play 76 games against the Twins, Tigers, White Sox and Royals. Every team would rather have that schedule instead of having to play 38 games against the Red Sox and Yankees etc.
Tell us more Evil Empire fan!
Moreland has been dealing with back spasms so it’s hard to say but yes agree swihart is at fault for this one. why they insist on keeping him is beyond me. he has no value and isn’t gaining any when he plays. days like yesterday show he might be losing value when they play him.
add another depth piece and see if someone takes swihart of your hands
If Moreland is having back spasms, I would expect him to sit out the All-Star Game. We’ll see. Maybe that’s why he didn’t pinch hit for Lin either.
The Sox are trying to build up Swihart’s trade value, with the hope Vazquez will return in August. Unfortunately it’s a much weaker lineup when Devers, Moreland and Benny are all not playing as was the case yesterday.
Well considering Moreland not only was in the starting lineup today, but also played 1B over Pearce, I’d guess there were no “back issues” yesterday. Probably just continuing to showcase Swihart’s “versatility” aka Jack of All Trades, Master of None.
You must not have had back spasms before. I have and can tell you it is truly day to day. I enjoy golfing and when my back is spasming I cannot even consider golfing and then the next day it’s fine. I only say that because of similarity to swinging a bat. When your back is spasming it’s not even possible.
Just to be clear fever pitch I’m not saying you are not wrong you could be right at showcasing Swihart I’m just saying back spasms are truly day to day.
Eddie has done a great job for the Sox. Do you think the Sox should take a little pressure off of him and get another left-hander like Tony Watson?
How do they relate?
Tony Watson is a reliever Edro is a starter. The Red Sox should be able to weather this as long as Edro isn’t out for too long. Brian Johnson and Velazquez are serviceable and can hold the fort down until Erod returns.
Hard to tell what kind of pitcher he’s ultimately going to be. Nice start but he’s often injured and been inconsistent overall. Still, under team control for plenty longer.
Edro was injured before because of his knee. He had some kind of floating patella that was surgically repaired. He has not been injured this year since the surgery. He has pitched very well and his stuff plays. He want expected to be ready at the start of the year after his surgery but he came on ahead of schedule. This current injury is just one of those things. I think they were trying to Moreland some extra rest, he has been having back spasms so I’m guessing that’s why he wasn’t in there yesterday sometimes these things happen. You aren’t going to go a full 162 games without some injury issues.
I’m not hating, I promise. But ERod is just an average SP. Nothing wrong with that but a career FIP of 3.97 he’s just…average.
Plus, now the problem lies on if you can trust him come October. His career high in IP is only 137 and he’s already over 100 this year.
He’d be a solid #2 or #3 starter on virtually every team. Career-low 3.44 ERA, career-low 1.22 WHIP, 110 K’s in 104 IP, .236 BAA not to mention an 11-3 record. He currently has a 17-inning scoreless streak going, and since you’re a Sabermetric guy I’ll also mention he has the 8th-highest WAR of all pitchers in the league. Hardly “average” stats.
The recurring knee problems have plagued him for a while, but he’s still only 25 and if he can stay healthy you can usually count on him for a quality start. While you may be right about his innings, I would still trust him more than Price in the postseason … ESPECIALLY against the Yanks.
Nothing against you yankeepride but this is normally why I don’t comment on Yankee pitchers because I don’t watch them and realize that you can’t just look at stats and say they are average until you know the whole story.
Eddie had a floating patella or something like that and required surgery. He would be a well above average pitcher then due to injury would be like batting practice, or possibly tipping pitches.
This year he had recovered from surgery to fix that knee and was looking more and more like the 2nd best starter for the Red Sox he was very consistent the only real knock on Eddie was his high pitch counts and leaving early but his numbers said he was better then average when healthy.
Eddie has 93-97 mph fastball that seems to play up it is one of the better fast balls according to advance metrics, he also has a quality change and a solid slider. As someone who has watched almost all of his starts I can tell you he is as good as any other starter on the Red Sox not named Sale.
I don’t care what he’s been for his career, this year his numbers are very very good– a 3.44ERA over 100+ IP. For context, that’s better than Keuchel, McCullers, Sabathia, Paxton, Clevinger, and many other excellent pitchers.
You know who could use ERod in their rotation? The New York Yankees.
Keeping Swihart around is the the worst case of roster management.
Boston needs James shields!