Evaluating Five Pittsburgh Pirates Pitchers Using Deserved Run Average

Relief Pitcher Richard Rodriguez

Richard Rodriguez had an outstanding 2018, and he didn’t need his defense’s help to help him throughout the season. In 69.1 innings, Rodriguez posted a 2.41 ERA, 2.60 FIP, and a 1.07 WHIP. He gave up just five home runs and issued just 19 walks. He also struck out an astounding number of batters. Rodriguez struck out 31.5% of all the batters he faced, while walking only 8.1% of them.

ERA estimators said that Rodriguez wasn’t using luck to get outs, nor was he struggling because of factors beyond his control. His SIERA was 2.73, while his DRA was 2.82. Overall, those are very similar to his ERA.

But in 2019, Rodriguez took a huge step back. In 65.1 innings, the right hander only struck out 63 of the 285 batters he faced. His walk rate went up as well, but the home runs are what killed him. He gave up nearly triple the amount of home runs from 2018 to 2019, surrendering 14 long balls. His DRA also shot up to over 4 at 4.70. Clearly, he was really relying on his defense this time around.

Rodriguez’s 2019 just should not have been a failure. His BAbip dropped to .271, while his ground ball percentage actually went up to 41.8%. Rodriguez was effective in 2018 because he wasn’t relying on his defense like he was in 2019. Hopefully, we can see the return of his effectiveness going forward.