Closing Time: Rodriguez Nailing Down Closer's Role in 2021

After stepping in as closer last season, Richard Rodriguez has nailed down the job with an impressive showing in 2021. He has not been scored upon in 10.1 innings this season and hasn't been scored upon in 21 consecutive innings.

At the beginning of the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates' closer role was largely up in the air. Kyle Crick and Keone Kela were battling it out for the ninth inning spot, but Kela couldn't stay on the field and injuries hampered Crick's ability to jump into the role. However, by the end of the season, there was a clear-cut closer who was dominating every time he stepped onto the mound. He never had closing experience at the Major League level, but when the Pirates had a need, he jumped in and filled the role. Richard Rodriguez had quietly had three strong seasons in the Pirates bullpen, and he is now being rewarded as the team's closer. He has been one of the toughest relievers in all of baseball dating back to last year, and he is making the most of his opportunities.

So far this season, Rodriguez has converted all four of his save opportunities and has allowed just one hit over 10.1 innings while striking out 10 batters. In total, he has not been scored upon in 21 consecutive innings dating back to August 30th of last season. Since taking over as the Pirates closer last August, he has converted eight of his nine save opportunities, including his fourth save of the season last night against the Kansas City Royals. Early in his Pirates career, Rodriguez was prone to giving up the untimely long ball, but since entering the ninth inning, he seems to be more focused and is pitching better. Today, we look at what has made Rodriguez's transition to the ninth inning so successful and how he can continue that success moving forward.

From Middle Relief to Back-End Star

When Rodriguez came to the Pirates in 2018, he was a struggling reliever with the Baltimore Orioles trying to find his way. However, during that 2018 season, he flourished in middle relief for the Pirates posting a 2.47 ERA in 63 appearances for the Pirates that season. As the years went on, he started moving further and further towards the back-end of the bullpen, posting a 3.72 ERA or better in every season. Then, in 2020 when Crick went down with an injury, Rodriguez was finally the top dog in the bullpen and got his first save opportunity on August 23rd, 2020 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning and earned the first save of his Major League career. Since then, he has only allowed three earned runs in 23 innings of work.

Since taking over as closer, Rodriguez has an impressive 1.17 ERA in his 23 innings of work and has struck out 30 batters during that time frame. But, what has allowed Rodriguez to make such a flawless transition to the closer role? He has been relying more on his fastball, which has been his bread and butter pitch throughout his professional career. It doesn't have the blow-it-by-you speed of some pitchers, but at 93 miles per hour, it has a lot of vertical movement that leaves opposing batters guessing. His fastball features 14.4 inches of break, which is 7 inches above average, and has some of the biggest movement in baseball. He balances that with a slider that falls off the table with 46 inches of drop to keep batters on their toes.

With all that movement on his pitches, it can be hard to keep them under control on the mound. However, Rodriguez is doing just that in the early part of the season, walking less batters than he has throughout his professional career. So far this season, Rodriguez has a walk rate of just 3% and has only walked one batter in his 10.1 innings of work. As a closer, you want to have as efficient an inning as possible and shut things down before the other team can get going. With Rodriguez not walking many batters, it forces the opposition to have to fight back into the game, and that is something they haven't been able to do. Rodriguez's opponent batting average sits at .031 through his first ten games and he continues to show why Manager Derek Shelton named him the Pirates full-time closer.

Long-Term Closer Success

Even though Rodriguez has been thriving as a closer as of late, the question remains can he maintain this. He hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 21 innings, a streak that will eventually come to an end, and he has looked more dominant than he ever has in his career. For a rebuilding team like the Pirates, a strong closer is so important because you don't want to see games start to slip away from you. Rodriguez has provided stability to the position and has helped anchor what is turning out to be a strong Pirates bullpen in 2021. However, as Rodriguez starts to get into his early 30s, the key to his long-term success is going to be his ability to control his pitches.

He has done a good job of that so far this season, with that 3% walk rate that we mentioned before. However, this has been something he has generally been good at throughout his career. His career walk rate is 7.1%, which is more than one percent below league average. However, the thing that Rodriguez has struggled with is his hard-hit percentage. He has a career hard-hit percentage of 38.5%, three percent above league average, and for a primarily flyball pitcher that is not a good sign. He has dropped his hard-hit percentage so far in 2021 to 31%, and this is a trend he hopes to continue. Rodriguez has gotten more than half of his outs in the air this season, and the softer the contact the less the ball will travel before making it to an outfielder.

While I think Rodriguez will be traded before the deadline, his consistency as a closer will be key to the Pirate's success this year and beyond. The better that Rodriguez performs this season, the more he could bring back in a trade at the deadline. He is also serving as a mentor to these young relievers as they try and develop into strong late-inning guys. When Rodriguez leaves, guys like Crick, David Bednar, and Sam Howard are all going to have heightened roles in the back-end of the Pirates bullpen. They can watch and learn from what Rodriguez is doing now so that when it comes their time to fill those roles, they can make it another flawless transition. Rich Rod is proving to be a reliable bullpen asset for the Pirates, and he looks to continue to dominate the ninth inning.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (12-11) wrap up their short two-game series with the Kansas City Royals (14-8) tonight at 6:35 pm as they look for their first sweep of the year. Mitch Keller (1-2, 7.16) looks to keep the positive momentum going on the mound for the Pirates as he faces Mike Minor (2-1, 4.64) for the Royals. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet, listen live on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter at @Buccos_Cove.