Rodríguez shows Blue Jays 'what we were looking for' in solid start

TAMPA, Fla. -- Yariel Rodríguez is the swing man on the Blue Jays’ pitching staff. But will the powerful Cuban right-hander make the team's 2025 starting rotation, be the long man out of the bullpen or simply pitch when called upon?

Rodríguez struck out a pair of former MVPs in Friday night’s 8-7 loss to the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. And while he did give up a pair of solo homers to Cody Bellinger and Austin Wells, Rodríguez didn’t walk anybody and threw 37 of 52 pitches for strikes to come up shining when it came to his main objective for the game.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider, when asked what he was looking for from Rodríguez in this game against the defending American League champions, said:

“For one, pitch count. Two, his stuff has been good in his previous outings. His command’s just been a little scattered. So it’s strike one in the zone and go from there. And to get his pitch count in. He’s going to be at 45 to 50 pitches.

“But I think tonight we’re looking more at the command of everything -- fastball and the breaking stuff.”

This outing was a big plus in that regard for a pitcher who walked 4.2 per nine innings as a rookie in 2024. He struck out four in three innings on Friday, allowing two runs on five hits.

“That’s what we were looking for with him,” Schneider said after the game.

Rodríguez got reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge and 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt to both go down swinging after chasing sliders. Those proven sluggers each went 0-for-2 against Rodríguez.

“His slider’s really good,” Schneider said. “What he fell into last year was just [being] a little inconsistent with it, and leaving it kind of over the middle of the plate. Case in point being Bellinger in the first. But it’s a really good pitch when he’s getting it in and out of the zone -- especially to righties.

“It was really the one bad pitch all night. A lot of strike-one, strike-two counts. That was the goal for today, and I thought he did really, really well. When he’s in the zone early in the count, he’s usually pretty good. Today, his stuff was good and his command was really good.”

Constantly getting ahead in counts enabled Rodríguez to keep hitters guessing.

“Today the plan was to work on my command, and I’m very pleased,” Rodríguez said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “For myself tonight, I was trying to get ahead in the count. No walks, that was great. Two homers … but maybe [it was pitch] execution.”

Just under three weeks remain in Spring Training, with Toronto's last game scheduled for March 23. So, in another start or two, Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker must figure out where Rodríguez, 27, fits to open the season.

Do they keep stretching out his arm, or do they “shorten” things up for a relief role?

“We’ll see,” said Schneider. “Things change every day, it seems like. But keeping the length is definitely a priority for us with him, knowing that we can shorten him up if needed. But for right now, we’re treating him as a starter, and we’ll see where we are probably in the next week or so.”

Said Rodríguez: “That’s something that I can’t control. But for right now, I’m going to continue building as a starter, and we will see at the end of Spring Training what we have and what the decision might be.”

The Blue Jays gave Rodríguez a five-year deal worth $32 million over the offseason, so the club has invested in him as part of its future.

Rodríguez was 1-8 with a 4.47 ERA as a rookie last season. He started in all 21 of his appearances and struck out 85 in 86 2/3 innings. But it was the 40 walks he allowed that cost him in the long run.

This was the kind of positive outing Rodríguez needed after entering Friday having pitched just three innings over two Grapefruit League games, giving up six earned runs on five hits while walking four and fanning three. And the two solo homers he gave up to left-handed hitters Bellinger and Wells came with Rodríguez ahead in the count, so he wasn’t behind on the only pitches that really hurt him in this outing.

“I was working on my strike zone and getting ahead in the count,” Rodríguez said. “That was the plan for tonight, and it worked out well. I’m trying to get that fastball ahead in the count, and work on my secondary pitches after that.”