Inside: Dereck Rodriguez, once a rising young star, is dropped by team.
SAN FRANCISCO >> Two years after Dereck Rodríguez burst onto the major league scene with a sensational rookie season, his time with the San Francisco Giants is up.
The Giants announced Wednesday that Rodríguez was cut to clear a roster spot for outfielder Joey Rickard, who joins the team ahead of a matchup with Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. To open a spot for Rickard on the Giants’ 28-man roster, the club optioned reliever Shaun Anderson to the Sacramento alternate site.
Rodríguez debuted with the club in 2018 and enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons for a pitcher in franchise history, but he lost his rotation spot in 2019 and lost the confidence of the Giants’ front office and coaching staff with continued struggles this year.
After cutting Hunter Pence on Sunday and placing Austin Slater on the 10day injured list Saturday, the Giants wanted to add a right-handed hitting outfielder to the mix and selected Rickard ahead of rookie Jaylin Davis and recently acquired utility man Daniel Robertson. The Giants traded for Robertson, a former Tampa Bay Rays infielder, on Sunday and manager Gabe Kapler mentioned him as a possibility to join the major league roster in the near future, but the team ultimately chose Rickard to fill a void on the roster.
Rodríguez posted a 2.81 ERA in 21 games (19 starts) after debuting in May, 2018 and was viewed by former manager Bruce Bochy as a potential anchor in the team’s rotation in the years to come. Rodríguez battled command issues and lost velocity off of his fastball that led to a rapid decline last season as he finished the year with a 5.64 ERA while spending time in the Giants’ rotation, the bullpen and with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.
In 4.0 innings with the Giants this season, Rodríguez gave up 10 hits, six earned runs and two home runs while striking out only two batters.