Eduardo Rodriguez had seemed to be progressing toward a return in 2020, but that optimism met reality on Saturday.
Rodriguez, who had been working his way through complications from COVID-19, has been shut down for the season, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced prior to Saturday night’s game against the Yankees.
Rodriguez, who tested positive for COVID-19 last month and recovered, was discovered to have a case of myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle. After monitoring it since Rodriguez’s initial shutdown last week, it was concluded that while the case is mild, it will not be resolved by the end of this season. The Red Sox expect him to make a full recovery and return to pitch in 2021.
“We are confident he’s going to make a full recovery and that his long-term prognosis is excellent, but the fact of the matter is there just isn’t enough time left this season to safely ramp him back up to pitching,” Bloom said. “Obviously it’s unfortunate, not something any of us are happy about, least of all Eduardo. But we need to make sure we’re taking care of him. This is not something to mess around with so we’re shutting him down.”
Bloom cautioned that while Rodriguez’s heart is functioning normally and the history of the ailment suggests long-term recovery, there isn’t much data about it after recovery from COVID-19 since the virus is so new. Still, they are confident about his eventual return to full health.
The loss of Rodriguez, who was projected as the No. 1 starter after Chris Sale had Tommy John surgery, is another big blow to a Red Sox starting rotation that was expecting him back at some point this season and desperately needs a boost.
But on a bigger picture, the news was a reality check for the team with MLB’s season in jeopardy right now due to the number of positive COVID-19 tests around baseball. Rodriguez, who will return home to Florida, told his teammates the news over Zoom earlier Saturday, and it hit home.
“Here is one of the best pitchers in the game last year and he’s not able to perform on the field,” Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. “And at a young age, young people aren’t safe from this. It hits because it hits different people in different ways, it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, you’re more at risk when you’re older but it hits the young pretty hard too at times. Eddie, just unfortunately, he’s one of those guys that it hit hard and to lose an entire season is pretty rough on anybody. …
“You just feel bad for Eddie, with the year that he had last year and the year that he had in the offseason and coming into spring training hopefully following it with another great year. We hope this thing heals up and next year we have the same great pitcher.”
What’s next?
Bloom said that regardless of Rodriguez’s status, it didn’t change any short-term plans he might have had to fortify a depleted rotation. But without Rodriguez, Bloom acknowledged that it “makes the mountain a little higher.” He said they’ll continue to scour the market and monitor his arms in Pawtucket, some of whom have performed well in intrasquad games.
As the future of the season continues to look uncertain, Bloom said he is still planning with the assumption that it will be a full season. He still believes the Red Sox can compete this year, but he’s also balancing that with the future.
“We want to compete, we want to win right now, but consistent with everything I’ve said since the day that I got here, as much as we want to win right now, we need to be mindful of the future,” Bloom said. “We can’t do it at the expense of everything that comes after 2020, so I think recognizing that we’re dealing with a lot more now with the virus and all the things that might impose on this season, we have to keep that same mindset. We certainly want to win this year, we need to make sure that we’re setting ourselves up really well for the long term.”
Martinez sits out
A night after he declared his swing is “awful” right now, J.D. Martinez was out of the lineup Saturday against the Yankees. After starting hot, going 5-for-9 in his first two games, the designated hitter is 2-for-23 since and he had a talk with Roenicke after Friday’s loss.
“I listen to the players and sometimes when I ask them about how they’re doing and they need a day, if it makes sense to do it I’m hoping by doing this that maybe we’ll get the next two months that will be really good from him,” Roenicke said. “They’re hard decisions because we know how important all these games are.”
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Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez out for season due to heart condition - Boston Herald
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