Eduardo Rodriguez scratched for Opening Day start, now injured list looming

As we all saw, last Monday Rodriguez was not sharp in his final Spring tuning start where he gave up three hits, two runs, uncharacteristically walking two, and only struck out one batter over two innings pitched.

Not what anyone expected after watching him dominate through all hist starts in Spring Training. Chris Cotillo shared Cora's thoughts with us.

“As you know, the last one (his start Monday) wasn’t a great one as far as like his stuff and his body,” Cora said. “And we’ve been very straightforward with him. His body is going to dictate what we’re going to do with him. So his schedule got pushed back. He didn’t throw a bullpen. He was supposed to throw a bullpen two days ago. He didn’t throw it. He played catch yesterday. He felt fine.”

A trip to the injured list is not yet on the mind of Cora, but is a possibility depending on how Rodriguez responds to a bullpen and will share more after todays game or Saturday.

“I think it’s just dead arm,” Cora said. “He didn’t feel as strong as the previous outings arm-wise. Shoulder, arm, there’s nothing specific there. ... He pushed hard for Thursday, but I think the smart thing from my end and from our end is to play it smart.”

Across Spring Training there have been a slew of injuries to both position players and pitchers, so the Red Sox are not the exception with Rodriguez.

Nathan Eovaldi, the Red Sox number two pitcher moves up for the Opening Day start.