Before the season started, Eduardo Rodriguez of Valencia, Venezuela was supposed to be the ace of the Boston Red Sox. With David Price now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chris Sale out for the year with Tommy John Surgery, it was Rodriguez who was to be the Red Sox starter on Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles.
Things changed for Rodriguez and the Red Sox on July 7. On that day Rodriguez tested positive for coronavirus, and was placed on the injury list to start the 2020 Major League Baseball regular season. Then this past Monday, Rodriguez was diagnosed with myocarditis, which is a serious heart condition that can be caused by a viral infection, including coronavirus. As a result, Rodriguez will not pitch at all for the Red Sox this season according to USA Today on Saturday.
A year ago, Rodriguez was one of the Red Sox most successful pitchers. He led Major League Baseball with 34 starts, and had a record of 19 wins, six losses, an earned run average of 3.81, and a WHIP of 1.33. In 203 1/3 innings pitched, Rodriguez gave up 195 hits, 86 earned runs, 75 walks, and 24 home runs. He also had 213 strikeouts. In five years with Boston, Rodriguez posted a record of 51 wins, and 31 losses.
Boston’s problem this season will not be scoring runs, it will be preventing them from being scored. Expect a lot of Red Sox games to reach the four hour mark as a result. Currently, it is no surprise that the Red Sox are last in the American League East with a record of three wins and six losses. They have given up 48 runs so far (5.33 runs per game). The only two teams that have given up more runs in the American League this season are the Seattle Mariners (57 runs) and the Los Angeles Angels (50 runs).
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