Eduardo Rodriguez vs Astros: Red Sox Starting Pitcher Set to Struggle in Game 3

Red Sox manager Alex Cora let announced that Eduardo Rodriguez will get the start tonight in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros. With the series tied one all, Rodriguez and the Red Sox will head home to Boston to play the next 3 games at Fenway. 

Rodriguez has been a bit up and down this postseason after starting games one and four against the Tampa Bay Rays. He pitched just 1 ⅔ innings in game 1 before getting the hook but snapped back in game 4, giving up two runs on five innings of work. 

So, which version of Eduardo Rodriguez do we get tonight in game 3 of the ALCS? He saw his struggles this year to Astros and will be looking to secure his second postseason win in 2021. 

Rodriguez prop odds are out for this game so let’s take a look over the lines at WynnBET Sportsbook and pick a few props for Monday night. 

Eduardo Rodriguez total strikeouts O/U 3.5 

Rodriguez enters this game after going 13-8 in the regular season with a 4.74 ERA. In the postseason, 0-1, 5.40 ERA, so not lights out stuff from Rodriguez this year. He faced the Astros twice during the regular season and allowed the ‘Stros to score six runs per game and bat .351 in them. 

In those two starts, Rodriguez totaled nine strikeouts in 9 ⅓ innings of work. Those numbers are right in line with the Astros season rankings that have them 2nd in the MLB as far as strikeouts surrendered with 7.52 a game. The numbers have remained consistent into the postseason with the Astros averaging 7.67 in their last 3 postseason tilts. 

The looming question here is how long Rodriguez will last on the hill tonight. He has gone well over this total in the last 3 games that he went five or more innings. However, he does have two appearances of less than 2 innings over the last two weeks where he failed to record multiple strikeouts in short work.

Based on this, I worry that the Astros will jump on him early and Rodriguez won’t have the innings to make it to the 4 strikeout mark.

Eduardo Rodriguez Earned Runs O/U 1.5

As far as how well Rodriguez will limit the Astros runs, I think he will struggle with this tonight as well. While the Astros rank ‘just’ second in strikeouts allowed, their offense is tops in terms of runs scored per game. The Astros’ mark of 5.38 runs per game leads the Majors and has been even better of late. The team is averaging nearly 7 runs per game over their last three.

In his last 5 games of work, Rodriguez has given up 2 or more runs on 3 occasions including his last time out vs the Tampa Bay Rays. Rodriguez also went over this total in just 1 ⅔ innings of work the game before in a 5-0 loss to the Rays. Fading Rodriguez here is easier than his strikeout total because it doesn’t take much to score two runs on anyone. What I mean by that is that it takes two swings of the bat to go over this total and I think the lefty is in line for another early exit.