The Diamondbacks announced today that left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 15th, with left shoulder inflammation. Lefty Joe Mantiply has also been optioned to Triple-A Reno. To take those two spots, the club has recalled right-hander Scott McGough and selected the contract of righty Christian Montes De Oca. The 40-man roster had two vacancies due to Garrett Hampson and José Castillo being designated for assignment earlier this week. Per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix, righty Ryne Nelson will take E-Rod’s rotation spot, taking the ball on Tuesday.
There haven’t been a lot of publicly reported details about Rodríguez or his injury, but it’s possible he was feeling it last time out. He started on Wednesday against the Giants but wasn’t very effective. He allowed four earned runs in four innings and was pulled after throwing just 76 pitches. The velocity on most of his offerings was down about one mile per hour relative to his previous start. Perhaps the club will provide more information but it seems the lefty will need to miss at least a couple of starts.
That will give Nelson a chance to retake a rotation spot, at least for now. He logged 150 2/3 innings for the Snakes last year, mostly as a starter. He had a 4.24 earned run average, 20% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate.
Despite those strong numbers, he got pushed down the depth chart when the Snakes signed Corbin Burnes in the offseason. Burnes joined a rotation group next to Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery and Rodríguez. Montgomery required Tommy John surgery in March, but Nelson was still unable to get a rotation job.
He opened the year in a long relief role and has thrown 26 1/3 innings with a 5.13 ERA, but better peripherals. He has struck out 25% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.9% clip. A low 62.5% strand rate is not doing him favors, perhaps why his FIP is 3.71 and his SIERA at 3.45.
Kelly, Gallen and Montgomery are all free agents at the end of this year, while Burnes has an opt-out after 2026. Nelson is under club control through 2028 and could perhaps earn a long-term rotation spot with some strong results this year. Though if Rodríguez returns in relatively short order, it’s possible Nelson finds himself back in the bullpen again.
Montes De Oca, 25, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. An international amateur signing out of the Dominican Republic, he has 181 1/3 minor league innings under his belt to this point in his career. In that time, he has a 4.17 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. He’s out to a good start this year, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In 19 Triple-A innings, he has a 2.37 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate, 5.5% walk rate and 57.7% ground ball rate.
Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images
Probably should have heeded the warning from his flakiness with the Tigers. He asked to be placed on the Restricted List to attend to family matters, but ended up ghosting the Tigers when they inquired about his status. Then he flaked just before the trade deadline when the Tigers thought they had a trade deal with the Dodgers.
He’s totally an unreliable & selfish player
Gee, a ball player that put family first. How dare he! And the nerve of him refusing a trade to a team on his NO TRADE list. How was Harris supposed to know that would be a problem? He’s not psychic! Aren’t those lists kept in a secure vault at the league office on a need to know basis? What was a POBO to do?
I remember that bizarre debacle, but I also have an active work life that demands a lot of me *and* I have family I care about more than anything else.
I just turned down a week’s worth of lucrative jobs in order to be present for family at a very important moment in their life and I don’t miss a single penny of the money I “lost out on” because I gained the self-respect that I prioritized the right way and the increased connection with my loved ones was wonderful- and no amount of extra money would have been worth missing out on this moment.
I’d walk away from my career if my family *really* needed me.
Whatever was going on with Eduardo Rodriguez isn’t our business and why would a guy like him voluntarily put himself in a position to lose out on millions and millions of dollars unless it was for something in life that transcends monetary wealth.
Impossible. You LIVE here.
Agreed, never been a fan of his. Seemed to never welcome playing for Detroit period. Also he plays like crap until it’s time for him to get a new contract then he magically pitches like a good starter.
I still remember when he threw his glove down and looked like he was going to have a mental breakdown after giving up that home run to Puig in the worlds series.
Seemed to be throwing great this year with an ERA north of 7
Right. The MRI revealed a crap pitcher.
Careful now, he might throw his glove and pout at you with those words…
Ken Kendrick may never sign another FA SP. And maybe he shouldn’t.
I was thinking it was bad luck after MadBum and Greinke but I think their evaluation process needs to be fixed
Greinke was really good in AZ but otherwise they haven’t had great luck.
Just lefties.
Bum
Erod
Monty
Lefty SP that is
One of the few times Red Sox not resigning someone was a good idea. Still hard to judge the trade of Miller for him since Miller also had a great season after the trade but ER’s 2019 will probably stand as the best of his career.
At least he doesn’t have to worry about having to uproot his family this time.
“Though if Rodríguez returns in relatively short order, it’s possible Nelson finds himself back in the bullpen again.”
They should do a Montgomery and put ERod in the pen and Nelson in the starting rotation.
Or just let Nelson pitch, then decide later.
Nelson was the Dbacks best SP and a top 15ish SP in MLB over the second half of last season. He needs to be in the rotation and ERod has been the weak link thus far among the starting five. Now if the Dbacks can get the BP sorted.
Dback aren’t making out very well with their big free agent southpaw signings. That rotation could have been stupid stacked if Rodriquez and Monty pitched remotely close to their career norms. If I’m putting my tin foil hat on, Rodriguez may be playing the system a little. Shoulders are tricky as heck, so unless there is a clear tear those can be a death sentence and near impossible to diagnose appropriately. Rodriguez contract is guaranteed and his first 2 season do not impact a future mutual option worth $17 mil. 2026 and 2027 do, and if he pitches a certain amount of innings it triggers the option automatically, which is a 11 mil difference between his buyout. So my conspiracy theory is he’s faking injury with a tough diagnosis to preserve his arm so that in 26 and 27 he can hit his innings target to trigger the option. He will be quite old in baseball terms by 2028, so he’s truly not likely to get any more healthy contracts after that nor does he have the body that ages well with age, so he’s truly very well may not sign another contract again. He may be trying to squeeze every dime he can