So far it only seems to be a sprained ankle, but the Red Sox better hope Eduardo Rodriguez’ injury doesn’t turn out to be more than that.
It sounds a little funny when you say the team with the best record in baseball that just rattled off a 10-game winning streak can’t afford something, but in this case, it’s true.
Eduardo Rodriguez, the 25-year-old lefty hurler for the Boston Red Sox, left Sunday’s start against the Toronto Blue Jays after a bizarre collision of sorts while attempting to cover first base. He and runner Lourdes Gurriel Jr. reached first base at the same time. Rodriguez tried to jump over the diving Gurriel, but he accidentally drilled him in the head with his foot – knocking Gurriel’s helmet off – and then landed awkwardly on his right ankle, appearing to roll it.
Rodriguez was then replaced by Heath Hembree after throwing 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball at Fenway Park, only allowing four hits with five strikeouts. The really unfortunate part is that Rodriguez – who has had a great season to this point, but often struggles to go deep into ballgames – only had a pitch count of 67 when he came out.
Fortunately, the X-rays came back negative and to this point, Rodriguez has only been diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, though he will continue to be evaluated.
Hopefully, this shouldn’t hinder Rodriguez too much, especially with the All-Star break coming up this week, and the Red Sox should be mighty thankful about that. Even though they have the best record in baseball right now (66-30 coming into Sunday’s game), they can’t afford to lose Rodriguez to a serious injury.
Behind only Chris Sale, Rodriguez has been Boston’s most reliable starter, other than maybe Rick Porcello – and that’s a huge maybe, because Porcello has had his share of rough outings this year, including Friday night against Toronto when he got pounded for eight runs in two innings. David Price also seems to be back in one of his funks right now, which means the Red Sox need extra help from Rodriguez, who is 11-3 in 18 starts this season with an ERA of 3.62.
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With any luck, it’s just a minor ankle sprain, and Rodriguez can spend the upcoming All-Star break recovering before getting back into the rotation. And the Red Sox better pray that this doesn’t turn into anything more than that.