Everything You Need To Know About Red Sox's First Notable Offseason Signing

The Red Sox finally added to a bullpen in need of multiple changes

Scott Neville | Nov 23, 2022

Everything You Need To Know About Red Sox's First Notable Offseason Signing /

In this story:

Boston Red Sox

After a long period of waiting for the first domino to fall, the Boston Red Sox finally have made a legitimate addition to their 26-man roster.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and company have brought in left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez on a one-year deal for $2 million guaranteed plus incentives and a club option for 2024, the team announced.

The former New York Met posted a 2-4 record with a 4.47 ERA, 57-to-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .226 batting average against in 50 1/3 innings pitched last season.

Rodriguez's numbers do not jump off the page, but there is plenty of data to suggest that his game-level stats did not do him justice.

The 31-year-old's 3.23 FIP and 3.62 expected ERA imply that he was hurt by either poor luck or some lackluster defensive play by the Mets last season.

Furthermore, Rodriguez was in the 96th percentile for average exit velocity, 91st percentile for hard hit percentage and 95th percentile for barrel rate. In other words, he gives up some of the softest contact in the league, and is one of the hardest pitchers to square up.

Rodriguez also ranked in the 94th percentile for chase rate and 72nd percentile for strikeout rate despite averaging just 92.7 mph on his sinker and 92.8 mph on his fastball.

The southpaw's greatest strength is a tantalizing changeup that he threw 38.8% of the time last season. Rodriguez also features a slider with a 33.3% whiff rate.

He'll compete with Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez for innings, as the three left-handers currently in the bullpen.

More MLB: Latest Aaron Judge Report Should Be Yankees' Biggest Fear

Published Nov 23, 2022

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu