The last time Eduardo Rodriguez pitched for the Boston Red Sox he was looking to reach a milestone, with 20 wins in a season.
It didn’t reach the magic number. And then everything got worse.
Instead of returning in July like the rest of his colleagues, after the delay due to the pandemic, the Venezuelan had to stay in bed. He had contracted the coronavirus.
The suffering caused him myocarditis, which ended up costing him the entire 2020 season.
“After all that happened, being here with the guys excites me a lot,” the 27-year-old left-hander commented Friday during a video conference from the Red Sox preseason complex in Fort Myers, Florida. “I just thank God for the opportunity to survive and get back into baseball.
“I feel really blessed to have a chance to come back here. A voice to a lot of people who have serious problems. People who die every day. Having the opportunity to be back is something that makes me very happy.”
Rodriguez had a 13-5 record for a Boston team that won 108 games, a franchise record and won the World Series in 2018. The following year, he seemed overshadowed in the rotation by Chris Surt, David Price, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi.
But Rodriguez beat them all, with a 19-6 record and an 3.81 ERA. He finished sixth in voting for the American League Cy Young Award. It celebrated its 34th opening, the highest figure in the big ones, on the last day of the campaign, with the opportunity to obtain the twentieth victory.
He left without a decision. Anyway, his wins, effectiveness and openings were the best stats of his life, as were his 203 innings and a third and his 213 strikeouts.
Rodriguez was seen as the opener of the inaugural 2020 game, before he tested positive for COVID-19 and was diagnosed with inflammation in his heart muscle. He explained that he couldn’t make just 25 throws without feeling exhausted.
On August 1, just one week after the start of the campaign, he was ruled out for the rest of the year.
“As a ballplayer, one always does something,” he said. “Being alone here, turning on the TV every night and seeing everyone play less me was a very difficult thing.”
After appearing at preseason camp this year, he is said to be ready to meet “a normal preseason.”
“I’m not getting tired anymore,” said the Valencia pitcher. “I feel normal, like in other preseasons. So I think everything is going to be fine.”