Alex Cora gushes over Eduardo Rodriguez after naming him Opening Day starter

After missing all of last season due to COVID-19, Eduardo Rodriguez was named the Opening Day starter for the Boston Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox are looking to put the 2020 season behind them. The Red Sox finished behind the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles for last place in the AL East, and the main reason for that was the depletion of their starting rotation. After Chris Sale underwent Tommy John surgery, the Red Sox lost presumptive starter Eduardo Rodriguez for the season after he contracted COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Rodriguez had a stellar performance in a spring training appearance against the Minnesota Twins, which made manager Alex Cora’s decision to name him Opening Day starter later that day that much easier. In fact, Cora gushed about Rodriguez while speaking with the media.

Red Sox: After missing entire 2020 season, Eduardo Rodriguez is Boston’s Opening Day starter

With the MLB season on pause early last year, Rodriguez made a brief appearance in Boston’s summer camp. Rodriguez was shut down due to complications from COVID-19, which was later revealed to be myocarditis, the inflammation of the heart muscle. As a result, Rodriguez was ruled out for the entire 2020 campaign.

This spring, Rodriguez has been solid when taking the mound for the Red Sox. In the appearance that ultimately gave him the No. 1 spot in the pitching rotation, Rodriguez struck out six Twins batters and surrendered one run on two hits in five innings of work.

In his last full season with the team (2019), Rodriguez accumulated a 19-6 record (34 starts), a 3.81 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP and 213 strikeouts over 203.1 innings of work.

After all he has been through this past year, Rodriguez will now start in Opening Day for the first time in his career. No matter if you are a Red Sox fan or not, you can not help but root for him entering this season.