The Red Sox need an ace. Eduardo Rodriguez firmly believes he is still the man for the job.
Sunday morning, just outside the Red Sox' dugout, Rodriguez took a few minutes to explain the blueprint for regaining the role so many believed had become a permanent part of his resume.
"It’s just a little extra I need to figure out," Rodriguez explained to WEEI.com.
Not shying away from attacking hitters. Not worrying about free agency. Flat-out, having fun again.
They all are pieces of the plan.
But, until his next start Tuesday night, all of this are simply words. Rodriguez and the Red Sox need action. The kind of action that both witnessed in 2019 when winning 19 games while pitching 203 1/3 innings, or even earlier this season when the lefty kicked off his first six starts by going 5-0 with a 3.82 ERA.
So, how is Rodriguez -- who has gone 0-4 with an 8.49 ERA since that initial early-season run -- going to rediscover his old self? According to the pitcher, the solutions have less to do with the intricacies of fixing his cutter, changeup or fastball. It's much simpler than that.
1. Attacking hitters
In his last six starts, Rodriguez has only managed to pitch as many as six innings once, hardly resembling the pitch-efficient guy that allowed him to eclipse 200 innings two seasons ago.
According to Rodriguez, he had fallen into the bad habit of not simply trusting his stuff.
"Try and throw more strikes," he said. "At the beginning of the season I was throwing a lot of strikes. Now I go to an 0-2 count and then I start going around the plate rather than just attacking the hitters. That’s what I think is going to change for me.
"I’m going to seven, eight, nine pitches and then walking them. That’s something I have to change. That is what I feel that is going to make me seven or eight innings every time. Just go out there and execute the pitches more often."
2. Not worrying about his contract
Every player approaches their contract years in different fashion. There is no right and wrong. But when you're someone who is entering the season as potentially the most sought-after free agent pitcher, as was the case with Rodriguez, it can become a bit complicated.
For the Red Sox' southpaw, however, the dynamic has been very uncomplicated.
"No, for me it’s just going out there and try and pitch good. That’s all that matters," he said when asked how if he had been thinking about performing in a contract year. "Even going into free agency after this year, every year is the same when you go through arbitration. If you have a good year, you get good money. It’s just more of the same. For me it just feels the same.
"I don’t care (about talking contract). I’m not thinking about that stuff too much. Just go out there and pitch. The results are going to be at the end of the season. Right now it’s just going out and pitching and helping the team. … I mean, I don’t care too much about that. For me it’s going out there and pitching."
3. Having fun again
Rodriguez's demeanor throughout his recent struggles have been noticeable to some, including his wife.
Catherine Rodriguez couldn't understand why her husband wasn't expressing the joy she had seen in recent years. For Eduardo, that hit home.
"I talked to my wife about it and she told me just that," he said. "I mean, we’re in the big leagues and a lot of people want to be here. So just go out there and have fun. Every pitch I’ve thrown I have been thinking too much about what this (hitter) is going to do. That’s what has been taken away from me, the having fun part of it. I want to go out there and enjoy what I’m doing. Right now I’m thinking too much. That’s what I’m going to start working on. Now it’s putting it all together and executing every pitch.
"I have been trying to be too perfect. For me, it’s go out there and have fun. Every time you see me pitch, I’m smiling. I have taken away that part. When I go on the mound I have to have fun. It has been, oh no, here we go again."
He's healthy. His velocity is back to 2019 levels. And he truly believes the problems of the last 1 1/2 months have been diagnosed.
Last on the list: Results. Both Rodriguez and the Red Sox need them in the worst way.
