Why is Richard Rodriguez giving up so many home runs this season?
It is a question the Pirates have yet to answer. And it was a question Rodriguez apparently did not want to face Thursday night.
The Pirates sent Rodriguez, a right-handed reliever, to Triple-A Indianapolis on May 17 in hopes that he could cut down on the gopher balls. He returned to the majors Monday and then surrendered another long ball three days later.
The Brewers’ Eric Thames led off the ninth Thursday with a blast to right field, sparking a four-run inning that effectively ended the Pirates’ comeback bid as Milwaukee notched an 11-5 victory in the opener of a four-game series at PNC Park. It was the fifth loss for the Pirates (27-28) in their past seven games.
Rodriguez has now given up nine home runs in just 26 games and 22 1/3 innings this season, an average of 3.57 per nine innings.
It’s hard to know what Rodriguez thinks about his problems with the long ball. He told team translator Mike Gonzalez that he did not wish to speak with the media following the game but would be available Friday.
The optimistic might say Rodriguez did not want to let emotions get the best of him while dealing with the media after a rough outing. The realist would say Rodriguez did not want to hold himself accountable for another bad outing that raised his ERA to 6.45.
Rodriguez had his head buried in his cellphone while sitting at his locker before the media made a request to speak to him. Perhaps he was asking Siri how to avoid homers.
Last season, Rodriguez was an unlikely success story after spending eight seasons in the minor leagues. He had a 2.47 ERA in 63 1/3 innings and gave up just five home runs in 69 1/3.
This season, he resembles the pitcher who looked overmatched in 2017 in a September call-up with the Orioles, allowing four homers in 5 2/3 innings. It was certainly a small sample size, but perhaps was a red flag of things to come.
The relentlessly positive Clint Hurdle keeps saying Rodriguez isn’t getting away with many mistakes. But even the manager admitted the multiple-run innings are beginning to wear on the Pirates, saying, “we’ve given up way too many of them.”
Thames’ home run came off a slider that didn’t do much sliding and pushed the Brewers’ lead to 8-5.
“What hurt us with Thames is he’s a good hitter, he has some hot zones and we probably should have done something else, but we put a breaking ball in the middle of the plate,” Hurdle said. “When (Rodriguez) misses his location, he’s continually paid for it.”
An even bigger blow came later in the inning when Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run double off Rodriguez to put it away.
The discouraging part was Rodriguez couldn’t keep it close after the Pirates scored three runs in the eighth to draw within 7-5 and force Brewers manager Craig Counsell to bring in closer Josh Hader to get the final out of the inning. The game was so far out of reach an inning later that Counsell didn’t send Hader back out for the ninth and instead used Matt Albers to finish.
The opposite of Rodriguez, Albers had a 1-2-3 inning.
"The game seemed like we were so far away, but we weren't," Hurdle said. "We were knocking on the door until late."
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