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Pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez recently signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. What is the impact of this move and what is his outlook for fantasy baseball in the Arizona rotation?
Back on August 1, 2023, Eduardo Rodriguez was set to be a Los Angeles Dodger; however, the lefty pitcher vetoed the trade by invoking the no-trade clause of his contract. On December 6, he found himself in the NL West anyway, but for the Diamondbacks and not the Dodgers.
Rodriguez is coming off one of his best seasons statistically. Over 26 starts, Rodriguez set career-lows in ERA (3.30), WHIP (1.15), and opponent batting average (.225), while also seeing a rebound in K% (23%) and K-BB% (15.3%) off of some poor 2022 results in those categories.
The Diamondbacks went to the World Series in 2023; can Rodriguez make them even better? Does the move improve his draft stock for 2024? Let's take a look.
Eduardo Rodriguez 2024 Fantasy Baseball Outlook
Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly were fantastic for the Diamondbacks last season. Gallen was particularly good, finishing third in NL Cy Young voting. Brandon Pfaadt had some strong starts late, while Ryne Nelson and Zach Davies filled in the remaining starts for the most part, but the common thread between all five just mentioned is that they are all right-handed. Left-handed Tommy Henry made 16 starts through the end of July before missing the rest of the season due to injury.
So yes, a talented LHP like Rodriguez would give this team something they didn't have in 2023 and could certainly make them even better. Nevertheless, a return trip to the World Series will prove quite challenging even with the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and Giants' Jung Hoo Lee additions notwithstanding.
The impact for fantasy purposes, however, may be greater for managers interested in investing in Eduardo Rodriguez's services. The Tigers have some talented young players, but the environment for Rodriguez is undeniably better in the desert. The Diamondbacks had the 14th-best runs/game in 2023 (4.58), while the Tigers were 27th in the league in runs/game (4.08).
To further illustrate what Rodriguez is capable of, in six straight starts from April 12 to May 10 last season, Rodriguez allowed just 2.0 ER on 22 H, 6 BB, and 41 K over 41.2 IP. One of those starts even saw him throw 6.2 innings of perfect baseball before a Ryan Mountcastle (.338 vs. LHP in 2023) single broke it up in the seventh.
It would have been difficult for Rodriguez to replicate his 2023, but a lat strain suffered during spring training has dampened his outlook further. He may have been a value at pick 195 before the injury, but now he'll need to be moved down closer to pick 240. He doesn't expect to miss much time, as he was surprised there was a strain at all based on the way he felt, but with his injury history caution is warranted.
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