Blue Jays’ Rodriguez takes his highenergy mound show on the road
One start, as encouraging as it was, does not provide nearly enough evidence to fully make any definitive conclusions.
One start, however, can be enough to leave an impression.
For Yariel Rodriguez, his second start arrived Friday night in San Diego, where the Blue Jays began a stretch that will see them play 13 games in 13 days.
Following their three-game set against the Padres, the Jays will be in Kansas City to the play the host Royals.
Then comes a highly anticipated and highly charged atmosphere at Rogers Centre when Shohei Ohtani makes his Toronto debut with the L.A. Dodgers, who will be in town for a three-game set.
Jilted fans will undoubtedly give Ohtani an earful, even though the same fans cheered the Japanese star when he suited up for the L.A. Angels in previous seasons.
In Toronto, there’s this misplaced perception that Ohtani somehow left the Jays and their fans stranded at the altar during free agency.
Suffice to say the ‘what if,’ the ‘what could have been’ and the ‘what wasn’t to be’ will be relived, retold and revisited during Ohtani’s visit.
At least for the start of the Jays’ current trip, all eyes will be on Rodriguez, who was signed this past off-season to a five-year contract worth $32 million.
The Jays hit the road following a successful homestand that could have looked much more encouraging had they swept the New York Yankees, who came back late by taking advantage of a Toronto bullpen that was short on available arms.
Still, the Blue Jays would win all three of their series at home after failing to win any of their season-opening series in Tampa, Houston and the Bronx.
When Rodriguez was given the ball to start against visiting Colorado last Saturday, he became the first Cuban-born player to start a game for the Blue Jays in club history.
From the moment he made his way from the bullpen to the mound, there was something different about Rodriguez, who oozed an energy that clearly was infectious.