Eduardo Rodriguez Features a Command Over Stuff Profile

Rodriguez's raw stuff doesn't jump off the page, but his ability to command five pitches allow his stuff to play up.

Coming off a World Series appearance, the Diamondbacks' top need this offseason was to upgrade their rotation. General manager Mike Hazen indicated that they were more likely to target the free agent market entering the Winter Meetings. Last night they got their man, as they've reportedly came to agreement on a four-year deal plus a 2028 vesting option with free agent left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who will turn 31 in April, checks off a lot of boxes for the D-backs. He immediately slots in as the team's No. 3 starter, between Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt, and has postseason experience. The D-backs are taking a calculated risk that he'll develop into an innings eater over the next four to five seasons.

In terms of raw stuff Rodriguez doesn't jump off the page, but he makes up for it with his ability to locate his pitches. He utilizes three different fastballs (4-seam, sinker, and cutter), a slider, and a changeup. His most effective pitches, in terms of run value per 100 pitches, is the slider (4.0), followed by the changeup (1.0) and 4-seam fastball (0.6). 

According to Baseball Savant, Rodriguez's fastball averaged just over 92 MPH and a spin rate of 2165 RPM. That ranks in the 22nd percentile for velocity and 31st for spin. Despite the below-average velocity and spin, his ability to locate the pitch has increased its effectiveness. He likes to locate the four-seamer to the arm side of the plate (in on left-handed hitters, away from right-handed hitters) and the sinker to the glove side. In 2023 Rodriguez utilized his four-seamer much more instead of his sinker, jumping up from 35% to 45%, to great effect.

For his secondary pitches, he has a 89 MPH cutter, 85 MPH changeup, and an 84 MPH slider. The slider has the most swing-and-miss potential, with 39.8% of swings coming up empty and 25.8% of his two-strike sliders resulting in a strikeout. That could be a pitch that the D-backs may try to get him to use more. His changeup yielded a wOBA of .260, but outperformed its xwOBA of .305. The changeup has a solid whiff rate of 31.5%, but isn't as effective as a putaway pitch as his slider at just 15.0%.

Here's a location heat map and usage rate for all five of Rodriguez's pitches:

Eduardo Rodriguez 2023 Location Heat Maps / Baseball Savant

Entering his 30s, Rodriguez's fastball is likely to decline in velocity. It's already declined a couple ticks from his 2015 peak of 94.7 MPH down to 92.2 MPH. However with the ability to locate to both sides of the plate with five different pitch types should allow him to age decently well in the four, possibly five, years he could be in Arizona. At the same time, his ability to hit locations to allow his stuff to play up is something that the D-backs are hoping he can pass down to young lefties Tommy Henry and Blake Walston.

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