Everything You Need To Know About Red Sox's First Notable Offseason Signing
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After a long period of waiting for the first domino to fall, the Boston Red Sox finally have made a legitimate addition to their 26-man roster.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and company have brought in left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez on a one-year deal for $2 million guaranteed plus incentives and a club option for 2024, the team announced.
The former New York Met posted a 2-4 record with a 4.47 ERA, 57-to-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .226 batting average against in 50 1/3 innings pitched last season.
Rodriguez's numbers do not jump off the page, but there is plenty of data to suggest that his game-level stats did not do him justice.
The 31-year-old's 3.23 FIP and 3.62 expected ERA imply that he was hurt by either poor luck or some lackluster defensive play by the Mets last season.
Furthermore, Rodriguez was in the 96th percentile for average exit velocity, 91st percentile for hard hit percentage and 95th percentile for barrel rate. In other words, he gives up some of the softest contact in the league, and is one of the hardest pitchers to square up.
Rodriguez also ranked in the 94th percentile for chase rate and 72nd percentile for strikeout rate despite averaging just 92.7 mph on his sinker and 92.8 mph on his fastball.
The southpaw's greatest strength is a tantalizing changeup that he threw 38.8% of the time last season. Rodriguez also features a slider with a 33.3% whiff rate.
He'll compete with Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez for innings, as the three left-handers currently in the bullpen.
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