Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Previews: RHP Richard Rodriguez
Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen was seemingly always missing someone due to injury. Whether it was Nick Burdi, Kyle Crick, or Edgar Santana's suspension, it seemed like the Pirates were always missing some of their key contributors. However, the one constant in the bullpen throughout the season was right-handed pitcher Richard Rodriguez. He stepped in when the Pirates needed a closer last season, and put together one of his best seasons of professional baseball going 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA over 23.1 innings of work. Now that he is entering his age 30 season, he is the veteran of the group and will be looked at to help the younger generation as they develop.
Assuming nothing changes between now and April 1st, it is looking like Rodriguez will once again assume the closer's role for at least the start of 2021. He is one of the Pirate's biggest trade chips this season and a good performance as a closer could greatly increase his trade value. It helps Rodriguez by moving him to a team that is in competition, while it allows the Pirates to continue their stockpiling of Minor League talent. Rodriguez is entering his fourth year as a Pittsburgh Pirate and is now starting to make the transition from newbie to veteran presence. As he takes on the leadership role, he looks to help both the Pirates and himself in 2021.
2020 A Growing Year
In 2019, Rodriguez pitched well in the grand scheme of things, posting a 3.57 ERA, but he was battered by the home run ball all season. He gave up a career-high 14 home runs, and they all seemed to come at the most inopportune times. Entering 2020, he was looking to put those struggles behind him and become the dominant back-end reliever he was during his first season in 2018. He entered the year as the set-up man for Kyle Crick and Nick Burdi and was looking to be a bridge to the back-end of the bullpen. However, right from the get-go, it was a rocky start as he gave up a two run home run in his first outing to push his ERA to 18.00 after just one inning of work, and it looked like his struggles would continue.
However, he got to work over his next five outings, putting together a string of five consecutive scoreless outings from July 27th to August 7th. He got hot at the right time as injuries were plaguing the bullpen, and he would take on a more prominent role in high-leverage situations. He gave up just one earned run in his next 3.2 innings of work and got his first save opportunity of the season on August 23rd against the Milwaukee Brewers. He came in and got the job done with a one-two-three inning and secured a huge win for the Pirates as they swept the Brewers, marking their first sweep of the season. It also showed that Rodriguez could deal with the pressures of being a closer and finishing out games.
When all was said and done, Rodriguez went 4-5 in save opportunities for the Pirates and concerted two of his first three save opportunities. After a rough patch at the end of August, Rodriguez finished 2020 strong in September. He didn't allow a run in any of his 10 appearances and allowed just six hits over 9.2 innings of work. He only walked two batters all month, both coming in one game while striking out 16 batters. It all contributed to a career-high strikeout rate of 36.5%. Rodriguez proved that his 2018 numbers were no fluke and that he can be a dominant reliever. With his strikeout pitch fully working, he is ready to kick it into high gear for 2021.
A Leader in the Bullpen
With Nick Burdi gone and Kyle Crick struggling last season, it looks as though Rodriguez will be the team's closer once again at the start of 2021. At 30-years-old, Rodriguez is tied for the oldest bullpen arm with the newest acquisition Chasen Shreve, and will be looked at to lead the Pirates relievers in 2021. He looks to continue his success striking out batters from last season while continuing to work on keeping the ball in the ballpark rather than over the wall. He is also looking to help himself out by marketing himself to a team that may be in contention this season. He has shown he has the tools to be a successful Big Leaguer, now he has to work to show he can be consistently good over a multi-year period.
One of Rodriguez's biggest keys to success last season was his ability to work in the slider more often. His slider use went from 14.3% in 2019 up to 27.6% during the 2020 season. It offers a new look for the batters with a little more than 10 miles per hour speed difference from his fastball. It is also his most effective pitch as opponents struck out 13 times against it and had an opponent batting average of just 0.50. He also did not allow a single extra-base hit off of his slider and gave up a total of just one hit all season. However, his fastball is still his bread and butter pitch, being used 71.3% of the time. It generated the most strikeouts of any of his pitches with 26 and opponents hit just .206 against it.
As for Rodriguez's contributions in 2021, I think he starts the year as the closer, and if he has success he will be traded at the deadline. His name has circulated around the Rumor Mill this off-season, and a strong first couple months of the season could put his trade value through the roof. With so many young pitchers in this year's bullpen, they need a leader who has been around Pittsburgh and that is what Rodriguez provides for this team. The Pirates have had a recent history of getting good returns for their closers, see Matt Capps, Joel Hanrahan, and Mark Melancon deals, and they are looking to do the same with Rodriguez as they begin to build the team of the future in Pittsburgh.
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