The last time Eduardo Rodríguez played for the Boston Red Sox, he was looking to reach a benchmark, with 20 wins in one season.
He didn’t reach the magic number. And then everything got worse.
Instead of returning in July like the other colleagues, after the delay due to the pandemic, the Venezuelan had to stay in bed. He had contracted the coronavirus.
The condition caused myocarditis, which came to cost him the entire 2020 season.
“After all I’ve been through, being here with the kids makes me very excited,” the 27-year-old left-hander said Friday at a video conference at the Red Sox preseason complex in Fort Myers, Florida. . “I only thank God for the chance to survive and return to baseball.
“I am just blessed to have the opportunity to return here. You see a lot of people who have serious problems. People who die every day. Having the opportunity to return is something that makes me very happy. “
Rodriguez was 13-5 for a Boston team that won a 108-game franchise record and won the 2018 World Series. The following year, he seemed overshadowed in rotation by Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi.
But Rodriguez faced them all, with a 19-6 record and an ERA of 3.81. He finished sixth in the vote for the American Cy Young Award. He made his 34th start, the highest in the standings, on the last day of the season, with chances for his 20th victory.
He left without a decision. However, his victories, ERA and starts were the best stats of his life, as were 203 1/3 innings and 213 hits.
Rodriguez was seen as the opener of the opening game in 2020, before being tested positive for COVID-19 and diagnosed with inflammation in the heart muscle. He said he can’t even throw 25 pitches without feeling exhausted.
On August 1, just one week after the campaign began, it was discarded for the rest of the year.
“As a player, you always do something,” he said. “Being alone there, turning on the TV every night and watching everyone play, except me, was very difficult.”
After appearing in the pre-season camp this year, he says he is ready to go through a “normal pre-season”.
“I’m not tired anymore,” said the pitcher from Valencia. “I feel normal, like in other pre-season games. So I think everything will be fine. “