Eduardo Rodriguez Flashes Regular Season Form vs. Reds
Eduardo Rodriguez looked sharp in his third start of the spring, as the 30-year-old left-hander held the Cincinnati Reds to two runs (one earned) in four innings with no walks and four strikeouts.
"I feel like today was 80% that I normally am in the [regular] season," said Rodriguez. "Location-wise, using all my pitches, so I would say that was a perfect outing for me in Spring Training."
Rodriguez showcased impressive command today, landing 41 of his 55 pitches for strikes. Most notable was his fastball command, as nine of the 20 4-seamers he threw resulted in a called or swinging strike. That enabled him to operate ahead of hitters all afternoon and finish them off with either a strikeout or a weakly-hit ball for an out.
"I know when I have my command and when I have my pitches going the right way that I'll get good results," said Rodriguez. "This was a perfect sample the way I normally pitch during the season. Less pitches, early outs, that's what I'm working on to get deep into games."
Manager Torey Lovullo was equally as pleased.
"I thought he made some quality adjustments, made some good pitches, threw the ball real good. Put the ball on the ground a couple times when he needed to. Overall it continues to improve, and it's very typical of a pitcher that knows exactly what he needs to get to."
The next 20% for Rodriguez is to get to his normal velocity of 92-94 MPH with his four-seam fastball by Opening Day. Today he was operating around 90-93, but believes he'll get that extra tick when the season starts. Next time out, Lovullo says Rodriguez will get stretched to five innings/70 pitches.
Offensively, it was another typical day for Ketel Marte and Blaze Alexander. Marte collected two hits on three hard-hit balls. Blaze Alexander had a hard-hit single up the middle and narrowly missed a home run in the 6th inning.
D-backs 5, Royals 6
Tommy Henry struggled in Surprise, allowing five runs on 10 hits and three home runs to the Royals. Over his last two spring starts, Henry has allowed eight runs on 16 hits in six innings. In a tightly contested battle for the fifth and final rotation spot with Ryne Nelson and Slade Cecconi, that's not an encouraging sign for the young left-hander. Kevin Newman and Albert Almora Jr. both homered and Alek Thomas hit a two-run single.
