Eduardo Rodríguez Further On Track After Second Start
While the stat line may look similar to his first start of the spring, left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez looked much better in his second start. The Brewers ambushed him for three runs just three batters into the game, but after that Rodríguez settled in to complete three innings.
"I threw three innings today, I feel great," said the D-backs left-hander. "I feel I'm on a really good pace for the start of the season."
The command was much sharper than his first outing, landing 35 of his 55 pitches for strikes. He was able to mix in his cutter and changeup more effectively deeper into his start. Rodríguez said after the home run he was able to pitch the way he normally does in the regular season.
A key moment came in the top of the second, when the first two Brewer hitters of the inning reached on a walk and a bloop single. Both middle infielders stepped up to pick up their struggling pitcher. Blaze Alexander ranged far to his right to stop a Jackson Chourio ground ball up the middle, then got the force at second. Geraldo Perdomo made a slick backhand stop on a 103.6 MPH ground ball from Christian Yelich to start an inning-ending double play to keep Milwaukee off the scoreboard.
"Blaze made a tremendous play, threw accurately to Perdomo, who stretched at second," said Lovullo, "Which is not easy to do on a short throw like that. Perdomo made a great play to pick up a baseball that's hard hit and delivered a strike to Blaze, we're out of the inning in three pitches."
While the defense was superb early, it ended up getting very sloppy as the game wore on. The D-backs committed two errors, but also left outs on the field in key moments. Pavin Smith attempted to field a ground ball hit off of Garrett Mitchell with two on and two out, but could only slow it down as it got by him for a two-run double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made a poor throwing decision compounded by a poor throw that allowed Yelich to advance to second when it got by Rodríguez behind home plate.
The sloppy defense compounded the struggles from right-hander Bryce Jarvis on the mound. Jarvis pitched in both the 5th and 6th inning, but was unable to complete either frame as the Brewers plated six runs in those two frames.
"You make some middle-middle mistakes, you're going to get banged around," said Lovullo, "The stuff is there with Bryce, we feel very comfortable with him on the mound. Hopefully he starts to command the baseball a little bit better and work through some innings without having that pitch count climb. Once again, it's just a learning thing, we got to keep going in the right direction with all of our guys."
Gabriel Moreno once again had a great day on the field, accounting for three of the four runs the D-backs scored off Freddy Peralta. Moreno doubled in a run and scored in the first, then golfed out a down-and-in fastball for his first home run of the spring. To cap off his day, he also threw out Brice Turang attempting to steal in the 4th.
"He's such a luxury for us to have back there. He stands up from that crouch and gets that arm cocked and in position as fast as anyone I've ever seen. There's really accurate and plus arm strength coming with it. It's a challenge to run on him."
Tomorrow the D-backs will take on the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch. Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt will make his second start of the spring. Also scheduled to pitch are Tommy Henry, Ryan Thompson, Justin Martinez, and Brandon Hughes. First pitch in Glendale is around 1:05 PM MST.
