Tigers Claim Right-Hander Dereck Rodriguez Off Waivers
The Tigers have brought a familiar name back into the organization. RHP Dereck Rodriguez, son of former Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez, has been claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants and optioned to the team's alternate training site.
General Manager Al Avila noted that the team could be in search of pitching depth after shutting down prospects Matt Manning and Alex Faedo due to right forearm strains.
Rodriguez gave up 10 hits, six earned runs, two home runs and only struck out two in 4.0 innings pitched this season with San Francisco.
The 28-year-old is nearly a couple of seasons removed from a breakout 2018 campaign in which he posted a 2.81 ERA-- the lowest by a Giants rookie since Hoyt Wilhelm in 1952. That number also ranked as the seventh-lowest ERA among NL pitchers who threw at least 100 innings.
Rodriguez began to stumble toward the end of 2018 and then took a steep fall during his sophomore season, and he's yet to resurface.
Struggles to maintain any semblance of consistency led to him spending time in Triple-A Sacramento, while his ERA in the majors slipped to 5.64 last season.
"He has struggled to find consistency over the course of the last couple of years," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. "That doesn't mean it's not in there, but his consistent stuff, and strike-throwing ability, it just hasn't been there consistently enough. I think that was the decision there."
The Giants viewed Rodriguez as a reliever in 2020 after he made a total of 35 starts in his first two seasons. What turned out to be his last appearance in a Giants uniform came on August 16th against the A's. Rodriguez only lasted 1 ⅔ innings after giving up five earned runs on seven hits.
Rodriguez won't be contributing in Detroit just yet, but he is quite familiar with Comerica Park after watching his dad, Ivan, who most Tigers fans know as "Pudge" Rodriguez play in Detroit from 2004-2008. Dereck was in the early stages of his teenage years when his dad helped the Tigers reach the 2006 World Series.
Ivan is currently 49th all-time on the MLB's all-time hit list with 2,844, while Miguel Cabrera sits one hit behind at 2,843.
With less than an hour until the 4pm trade deadline--it appears as though the Tigers (16-16) won't make any significant trades in 2020.
