Rodriguez confident he’ll help team

When Sean Rodriguez came off the disabled list just five months after major shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm, many wondered if the veteran and first-year Brave was coming back too soon. Recall that he went 3 for 29 with 12 strikeouts in 11 injury-rehab games at four minor league levels.

So the response has been predictable on social media. Entering Monday night’s game in Arizona, Rodriguez has gone 1 for 14 with four walks and eight strikeouts in his first six games (four starts) off the disabled list. There have been a lot of comments on Twitter and Facebook along the lines of “I knew he came back too soon.”

Rodriguez understands the reaction but isn’t surprised that he’s struggled initially, something that probably wasn’t going to change if he spent another week or two in Triple-A.

“I mean, naturally, when you’re talking about jumping into what is, quote-unquote, my opening day after the All-Star break and (other) guys are in midseason form,” said Rodriguez, 32, who was injured along with his wife and two of their children in a Jan. 28 automobile accident.

But he won’t confess to feeling apprehensive.

“I feel like at any level, that’s going to be tough ( jumping back in at midseason). So I don’t want to say I was apprehensive,” Rodriguez said. “I just basically said, you know what, I’m going to take it in stride. Obviously I can probably catch on a lot quicker than most people might expect and still feel like I can benefit and help the team win.”

He had his first hit in most recent start Saturday against the Dodgers, after getting two walks and scoring two runs in Friday’s 12-3 win at L.A. He’s had three starts at third base and one at second base, just a couple of the seven positions Rodriguez played last year in his career-best season with the Pirates (all but catcher and pitcher).

He has just one hit but does have a .316 OBP including a hit-by-pitch and four walks, one of which loaded the bases with two out in the ninth inning in a onerun game against the Cubs (the Braves lost 4-3).

After signing a two-year, $11.5 million contract, Rodriguez could easily have sat out the entire season recovering from Feb. 14 surgery to repair his torn rotator cuff, damaged labrum and biceps tendon. Everyone in the Braves organization would have understood if he needed the entire year to recover, since initially no one expected him back before September.

That he was working out and going through countless hours of rehab every day to make it back so soon was commendable, regardless of the early results since he was activated. Teammates saw him every day during homestands and appreciated his attitude and desire to get back as soon as possible.

Depending upon what happens with second baseman Brandon Phillips and first baseman Matt Adams with Monday’s trade deadline approaching, it might be particularly beneficial having Rodriguez back sooner than expected, especially with shortstop Dansby Swanson continuing to struggle.

“I feel like things are starting to come together,” he said. “The swing feels good, just a matter of trusting what I’m working on. I know what my approach has to be and what I want it to be and it’ll be there consistently once I get that feeling of trust behind what I want to do and it just starts to flow a little better.”