MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — It was late last May, just before he injured his right knee for the third time in 18 months, that Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez talked about the importance of peace of mind.
"Just pitching healthy is the best part," Rodriguez said, two days before he tumbled on that bullpen mound in Baltimore. "You just go out and have a game; you're not thinking if you're going to break your knee or something like that. [...]
MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — It was late last May, just before he injured his right knee for the third time in 18 months, that Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez talked about the importance of peace of mind.
"Just pitching healthy is the best part," Rodriguez said, two days before he tumbled on that bullpen mound in Baltimore. "You just go out and have a game; you're not thinking if you're going to break your knee or something like that."
The subsequent knee injury shelved Rodriguez for six weeks, and he never quite returned to his May form when he was back — in part because that peace of mind was wrecked by another recurrence of a knee injury. Now, having finally undergone surgery to more permanently alleviate the problems in his landing knee, Rodriguez feels confident again.
"I feel like my kneecap isn't going to pop out anymore," Rodriguez said. "That’s a good thing because I feel comfortable now. ... Maybe this year I'll be ready to just throw and not think of the knee anymore."
Rodriguez said he can feel the difference in his knee just by walking. He hasn't run or thrown off a mound yet, and he'll be behind the other pitchers entering spring training. The Red Sox have discussed mid-to-late April for his possible return, though his previous comebacks from knee issues have tended to take longer than the team's initial diagnosis.
The 2018 season may very well end up as the pivot point for Rodriguez's tenure with the Red Sox. Boston's long-term competitive window is murky largely because of the uncertainty surrounding its pitching staff. Drew Pomeranz and David Price can be free agents at the end of this season, Chris Sale and Rick Porcello after the next one.
The only certain member of the rotation beyond that is Rodriguez, and there isn't much the Sox can be certain about with him. Under team control through 2021, Rodriguez just went through arbitration for the first time as a SuperTwo player, and he'll no longer make the minimum this season.
One thing the Red Sox do know is that Rodriguez's inconsistencies generally trace back to troubles with his right knee. The first time he dislocated it, in the spring of 2016, set him back the first half of that season. The second time, last winter, prevented him from hitting the ground running in spring training of 2017. The third time, in Baltimore on June 1, undercut the most promising run of his career to date.
Before the injury, Rodriguez was emerging as a potential All-Star candidate, with a 2.25 ERA over his previous seven starts. By the Division Series, he was a longman who couldn't be trusted to get any big postseason outs, even as the Red Sox rotation was crumbling around him.
"I was trying to fight to pitch with a knee like that. And I did it, sometimes [with] ups and downs," he said. "Now I'm just fine. Now it's time to get back to the guy I was before I got the surgery."
The problem there is, Rodriguez's identity over the last two seasons is so tied into his knee woes. And his tantalizing 2015 season was marred by his bouts with pitch tipping.
And so one can explain away nearly every one of Rodriguez's poor major-league starts, brushing them away to splice together all the good ones and thus imagine him as a top-of-the-rotation force on a team with a few already in hand. He just hasn't actually done that on the field.
A Rodriguez that fulfills his considerable potential would ease other losses in the rotation; Boston wouldn't have to look as aggressively for an external replacement for Pomeranz or, if he opts out, Price. A Rodriguez that doesn't means the cycle of spending big bucks or trading big prospects for rotation stability will have to continue yet again.
Rodriguez's teammates think he can still fulfill the budding ace potential he displayed three years back.
"I don't even think Eddie's tapped into the talent he has," said Porcello. "He's one of the most talented left-handed pitchers I've ever seen. Now that he has his knee taken care of and he's healthy and doesn't have to worry about it, that’s all the better for him."