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Chris Rodriguez, P
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Scouting report
A stress reaction in his back cost Rodriguez all of 2018 and '19 (he made three starts in April '19 before he was shut down again and had surgery) but when healthy, he has late-inning relief stuff. Prior to Rodriguez's shutdown in 2018, he had experienced a velo spike (93-97, up from 91-94 the year before) and lowered his arm slot. Both of his breaking balls were excellent, but his changeup had regressed a bit compared to his first year (or at least, he lacked feel for it). Rodriguez once again showed that kind of heat coming back from the injury early in 2021 and had such a good spring that he all but won a big league bullpen job. He still throws four pitches but his fastball (96-98 mph) and curveball have moved to the forefront of his repertoire while sliders and changeups have been rare. After eight multi-inning relief outings during the first month of the regular season, Rodriguez was shut down with shoulder inflammation. His delivery is really violent and portends time on and off the IL, while Rodriguez has high-leverage stuff and on-field makeup when he's healthy.