The Boston Red Sox are in good hands when Eduardo Rodriguez takes the mound.
The Red Sox lefthander didn't have his best stuff Sunday but still delivered an impressive outing, allowing three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in Boston's 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.
The victory moves Rodriguez to a perfect 4-0 on the season. If you've followed the Venezuelan hurler over the last few seasons, his early success in the win column shouldn't surprise you.
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Dating to the start of the 2018 season, the Red Sox are a remarkable 49-12 in Rodriguez's last 61 regular-season starts. Since Rodriguez didn't pitch in 2020 while battling COVID-induced myocarditis, Boston hasn't lost a Rodriguez start since Sept. 9, 2019, against the New York Yankees.
Wins and losses aren't the best barometers of a pitcher's success. For example, Rodriguez got lit up for seven earned runs in his second-to-last start of 2019 yet still got the win in the Red Sox' 12-10 victory.
But outings like those have been the exception not the rule for Rodriguez, who has become Boston's most reliable starter in the last two-plus seasons he's pitched. The 28-year-old posted nearly identical sub-4.00 ERAs in 2018 (3.82) and 2019 (3.81) while earning double-digit wins in both campaigns.
Rodriguez is picking up right where he left off in after sitting out 2020 and has improved in a key area: He's issued just two walks to 26 strikeouts through four starts after walking a career-high 75 batters in 2019.
That's a great sign for the Red Sox, who need Rodriguez to be the ace of the staff with Chris Sale sidelined. That means giving his team a chance to win every game, and recent history suggests Boston's bats don't need to do too much to win an E-Rod outing.