E-Rod making good progress
Optimism is creeping into the Red Sox’ outlook on Eduardo Rodriguez.
Two weeks ago, the Sox feared the worst when they learned Rodriguez had suffered serious ligament damage in his right ankle. Ankle sprains tend to be rare for a pitcher, but the threat of ligament damage made the results only more ominous. The healing time differs for everybody, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be discomfort-free this season.
But Rodriguez was re-examined at Fenway Park yesterday after spending two weeks in a walking boot and the Red Sox got good news.
“Actually it was very positive,” manager Alex Cora said. “Now he can do other activities besides playing catch. I saw him (yesterday) doing a few exercises with the ankle and with our therapist down there. He can run on the treadmill. I know it’s not a huge step, it’s not getting on the mound, but that’s a good step for what we want him to do.”
Rodriguez was pitching a gem on July 14 when he hurt his ankle covering first base and came out of the game after just 67 pitches. The young lefty had a 3.44 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 1042⁄3 innings, the best numbers he’s posted in four big league seasons.
The previous two seasons have been plagued by knee injuries that were finally taken care of with offseason surgery.
“Everybody knows about his knee last year and how hesitant he was,” Cora said. “And it seems like he was right because when they took care of it in the offseason he came in and he never complained about it and went about it the right way and he was a full go.”
Getting Rodriguez mentally over the injury to his right ankle, the plant foot for a left-handed pitcher, will be another step.
“I think mentally he’s in a great place and physically he’s getting there,” Cora said. “Just for him to feel comfortable with it, which honestly on a daily basis it looks like it is and you can tell. You talk to him and there’s no hesitation. He believes that he’s going to contribute this year which is probably the most important thing.
“I still remember the first meeting after Saturday. The way it looked, it didn’t look too good. Now you look at it and it’s like wow, this is, for me personally, this looks a lot better than I thought. We need to be careful at the same time. Because he feels great, it doesn’t mean that he’s OK.
“For him to come back, there’s certain steps, there’s a process, and we can’t push him that hard.”
Rodriguez is still wearing an air cast at times, but he’s no longer in a permanent boot.
Without Rodriguez, the Sox have been doing all right. The starters have a 1.44 ERA in the last 11 games entering last night, the lowest starting pitcher ERA in any 11-game stretch for the team since 1978. Sox starters have allowed zero earned runs in eight of their past 11 games.
Birth of a manager
With the Phillies in town and playing well, it marked the first time since 2009 that the Phillies and Red Sox played each other while both teams were in first place.
First-year manager Gabe Kapler is getting a lot of credit.
“He was always thinking out of the box, looking at percentages and all that,” Cora said. “Loved to talk the game.”
Kapler, who won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2004 and hit .270 over his four years in Boston, was one of many players on those Sox teams who went on to coach.
Cora said it certainly makes sense, given those teams were full of talkative players who loved to think about the game. But he never saw this coming.
“I wish I could say that we all got together and we talked about it but it wasn’t the case,” Cora said. “I played with Dave Roberts in ‘04 with the Dodgers before he got traded here. Never thought that both of us were going to be a manager. Like, we never mentioned it. Kevin Cash, the same way. Gabe. One thing for sure, probably, about that group is that we wanted to stay around the game. But for all of us to be managers, if you think about it, what are the odds?”
Cora credited Terry Francona and his coaching staff for being passionate about the game and spreading that passion to the players.
“It’s cool to see, but I think it goes back to the organizations that we grew up in,” Cora said. “I came up with the Dodgers and they do an outstanding job and then you come here and Tito, it was good for us.”
Hassle-free
Cora said the coaching staff is taking a relaxed approach to the trade acquisitions, letting new players be themselves rather than trying to change them too much.
“Even with Nathan Eovaldi coming in, there weren’t meetings, and, ‘This is what we want you to do,’ ” Cora said. “It was just, ‘Come in and do your thing.’ With Steve Pearce, the same thing. Obviously we’ll talk a little more throughout the week with Nathan, things we feel like he can benefit from. Regardless of if something happens, we’re still going to do things the way we’re doing them right now.” . . .
The Sox led the Yankees by 51⁄2 games last night and haven’t led the AL East by 61⁄2 since 2013, when they won the World Series.