ATLANTA – Yariel Rodriguez’s year-over-year workload is quite literally going 0-to-100, which is why the Toronto Blue Jays are being especially careful with his outings over the season’s final three weeks. Still, even with guard-rails in place, there’s room for him to get relatively deep into a game when he’s particularly effective, the way he was in Sunday’s 4-3 loss in 11 innings to Atlanta.
The 27-year-old tacked on five more innings while allowing only a single run in upping his 2024 total to 93.1 between the majors (73.1) and minors (20.1). While he did throw last year in the Dominican Republic while his citizenship status and contractual situation with Japanese team Chunichi were settled, this year is the pitching equivalent of going pedal-to-the-floor after being stopped at a red light.
Consider, too, that in 2022 with Chunichi, he logged only 54.2 innings after carrying 96.1 and 94.2 frames while mostly relieving during the 2020 and ’21 seasons, and the caution is not only understandable, but sensible. Rodriguez’s career-high for innings in a season is 133.1 while pitching in the Cuban National Series, and the Blue Jays’ long-term goal remains getting him beyond that total as a starter in the majors.
Whether Rodriguez is ultimately capable of consistently running through opposing lineups two to three times is a significant question for the Blue Jays if they intend to contend in 2025. Their rotation will once again be fronted by Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt with Bowen Francis over the past five weeks making a remarkably compelling case for a spot next year.
Assuming he’s in the rotation, that leaves one opening for which Rodriguez would be the front-runner, barring free-agent additions, with Jake Bloss, one of the key pieces acquired from Houston in the Yusei Kikuchi deal, in the system, awaiting an opportunity. Alek Manoah, recovering from hybrid ligament-replacement surgery, could potentially factor in as early as July/August, too, so the Blue Jays have a reasonable rotation base to work from.
At the same time, their bullpen needs to be rebuilt, particularly on the late-inning leverage side, and with the offence requiring at least one head-on-the-pillow producer, the Blue Jays will have to decide how to best allocate their resources.
Rodriguez in the rotation allows the front office to focus more on the relief and offensive help, but at the same time, given his time as a leverage arm in Japan, he could help solve the bullpen needs, with a back-fill starter taking over in the rotation.
How the off-season market develops will ultimately decide which way the Blue Jays go, but outings like Sunday help bolster the case for Rodriguez continuing to start.
He allowed just two hits – a Jarred Kelenic solo shot on a mistake middle-middle sinker in the second inning and a Jorge Soler single on a hanging slider to open the fourth – and a walk while striking out six.
Beforehand, manager John Schneider said the length of Rodriguez’s outings would “depend on his efficiency … especially first time through the order,” and the right-hander obliged, with only 73 pitches through five frames. He was helped by 10 swinging strikes, seven of them on his slider, to keep the game in check as the Blue Jays worked Chris Sale for 113 pitches over six innings despite only two hits and a walk against the Cy Young candidate.
That got them into the Atlanta bullpen earlier than they otherwise might have, with Spencer Horwitz delivering a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Joe Jimenez in the eighth to put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
A bizarre moment followed in the bottom half of the frame, when Genesis Cabrera came on with a runner on third and two out and induced a groundout to first to escape the jam. After running over to cover first and taking the relay from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the excitable lefty pumped his fist aggressively and as he was walking off the field, had an exchange with the Atlanta dugout and made a come-here motion to someone.
George Springer ended up pulling him away but home-plate umpire Doug Eddings started following Cabrera, yelling at him. Schneider charged in to separate them and the situation diffused.
Chad Green, who’d given up three-run homers to blow saves in his two previous outings, took over in the ninth and allowed consecutive base hits before Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly tied the game 2-2, although he held the damage there.
After both teams left the bases loaded during a scoreless 10th, George Springer’s two-out single in the 11th put the Blue Jays up 3-2, but they came undone messily in the bottom half with Zach Pop, in his second inning of work. Eli White’s leadoff bunt to sacrifice a run over was misplayed and turned into a single, Addison Barger then threw away Adam Duvall’s grounder allowing the tying run to score and after an intentional walk to Olson, Sean Murphy’s fielder’s choice brought in the winning run.
