Pirates End of the Year Awards: Pirates Reliever of the Year Richard Rodriguez
When you begin the season not knowing exactly what your role on the team is, things can be difficult. You essentially have to be able to adapt to anything and pitch effectively whenever your team needs you. At the beginning of the season, Nick Burdi and Kyle Crick, and Keone Kela were the three front runners for the closer's role. However, Kela didn't show, Burdi got hurt, and Crick was ineffective leaving the Pirates with a need for a ninth-inning man. That is when Richard Rodriguez stepped in and served as the team's late-inning reliever. He went on to have a career-year and earns this year's Buccos Cove Pittsburgh Pirates Reliever of the Year Award.
Rodriguez finished 2020 appearing in 24 games while going 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA over 23.1 innings of work. The career-year gave the Pirates renewed confidence in the reliever, and also heightened his trade value for the off-season. With the Pirates in the middle of a youth movement, any veteran player could be on the table, and Rodriguez is one of the names that has been swirling around. He broke out with the Pirates during the 2018 season when he was one of the best relievers in baseball, and he has been with the Pirates ever since. 2020 was a weird year for the bullpen, but Rodriguez was one of the few consistent pitchers to help keep it afloat.
Rocky Start to Solid Reliever
At the start of the 2020 season, it looked like Rodriguez was going to join the rest of the bullpen's struggles. He appeared on Opening day and allowed a two-run home run that led the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 victory over the Pirates. His ERA started at 18.00 and, after struggling a bit in 2019, fans were questioning his ability as a reliever. However, he put all those doubts to rest rattling off five straight scoreless appearances dropping his ERA to 3.00. When all was said and done he only gave up five earned runs the rest of the season and finished the year with a 2.70 ERA. He would end up stepping in as the team's closer in late August and ended up going 4-5 in those save opportunities.
Rodriguez's best stretch of the season came in September when he did not give up a run for the entire month. He was nearly unhittable throughout the month, with an opponent's batting average of just .171 over 9.2 innings of work. His strikeout rate was higher than ever with 16 strikeouts over those 9.2 innings of work. There was only one outing in September where he didn't strike out a batter. His control was also pinpoint accurate as he walked just two batters during the month. He had a 0.83 WHIP and turned into one of the top relievers not only for the Pirates but across Major League baseball.
The key to Rodriguez's success this season was definitely in his strikeout rate. He ranked in the top 10% of the league with a strikeout rate of 36.6% and balanced it with a walk rate of just 5.4%. His slider developed into one of his best pitches during the season with a put-away rate of just over 35% while accounting for 13 of his strikeouts. He increased his usage of the slider more than 10% from 2019 and opponents paid the price with a batting average of .050 against Rodriguez's slider. However, his strikeout pitch was his tried and true four-seam fastball. Rodriguez used the pitch 71.9% of the time and generated 21 strikeouts off of it. Rodriguez's biggest flaw is the hard-hit percentage where he ranks in the lower half of the league at 51%. If he could limit the hard hits, he would be that much more effective in 2021.
Stepping In As A Closer
On paper, stepping into the closer's role in Major League Baseball seems pretty easy. You only have to pitch one inning and retire three batters to get your team the win. However, there is a lot more that goes into it than getting three outs, as you are in one of the highest pressure situations in the game. Well, that is exactly what Richard Rodriguez was asked to do in late August when Nick Burdi and Kyle Crick both went down with injuries. He picked up his first save on August 23rd, 2020, against the Milwaukee Brewers. He made quick work of the Brewers, striking out two of the three batters he faced, and thus began his run as the Pirates closer.
He would end up appearing in four more save opportunities, going 4-5, but posted a 6.75 ERA in save opportunities. That number is a little bloated because of one outing where he gave up a walk-off home run to Eric Sogard and the Milwaukee Brewers. It was one of only five hits that Rodriguez gave up in save opportunities, and unfortunately, it was the one that blew up his ERA in save situations. With the Pirates entering 2021 with no real closer option, Rodriguez could be called upon again as the team's closer in 2021, with the other options being Kyle Crick and Blake Cederlind competing for the ninth-inning job.
Rodriguez has had his share of ups and downs with the Pirates, but this 2021 season is a chance for him to really shine. He has had two seasons where he posted sub 2.50 ERAs, and despite his tendency to give up home runs at the worst possible time, he has been a helpful bullpen arm. He is now entering his fourth season with Pittsburgh and is becoming a veteran in the bullpen. If the Pirates decide to keep him around, he will more than likely be the closer next season, given his success in that role and in September to end the season. Rodriguez came to Pittsburgh turning heads in the bullpen, and now he looks to become the leader of the pen in 2020.
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