Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Joely Rodriguez

B/T: L/L     Age: November 14, 1991 (30)
MLB Options: 0   Free Agent: 2023
2021 Stats: 2-3, SV, 4.66 ERA, 1.532 WHIP, 3.5 BB/9, 9.1 K/9
2021 Advanced Stats: -0.3 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR, 3.43 FIP, 94 ERA+

The New York Mets obtained Rodriguez from the New York Yankees in exchange for RHP Miguel Castro. In essence, the Mets moved their best right-handed pitcher against left-handed batters in exchange for a LOOGY. What will be interesting to see is what version of Rodriguez will be the Mets be receiving.

While Rodriguez was with the Rangers, he struggled. Over 31 appearances, he had a 5.93 ERA, 1.610 WHIP, 4.0 BB/9, 3.72 FIP, and a 75 ERA+. Rodriguez would then be a piece of the trade sending Joey Gallo to the Yankees at the trade deadline. While Rodriguez wasn’t the main target, it was a trade mutually beneficial to both sides.

Really, for the first time since his rookie season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Rodriguez thrived. The biggest change was Rodriguez had better control dropping his walk rate from a 4.0 BB/9 to a 2.8 per nine. Keep in mind, this wasn’t a catcher framing issue as Rangers catcher Jose Trevino was a better framer than Gary Sanchez or Kyle Higashioka.

It also wasn’t fielding as the Rangers 86 team DRS was far superior to the Yankees -41 DRS. To some degree, it is just a matter of the randomness which occurs over the course of the baseball season. Another factor at play is Rodriguez has always been far superior in the second half during his career. To the point, Rodriguez has a 6.10 first half ERA in his career as opposed to a 3.10 in the second half.

Getting to the stuff, Rodriguez throws a mid 90s sinker, which will explain the lack of spin he generates on the pitch. For left-handed batters, the fastball is more difficult to pick up due to the slight body turn in his delivery and 3/4 quarter arm angle. He combines that mostly with a change and a very infrequently thrown slider.

The mix is lethal to left-handed batters who struck out 36.1% of the time against him. Part of it is the deception in the delivery. The other part is he hides the change-up well making it his true swing-and-miss pitch. In fact, batters whiff on that pitch 40.9% of the time. This is why Rodriguez is one of the best relievers in the majors in getting batters to swing and miss.

Another important factor with Rodriguez is he keeps the ball on the ground. In fact, he had a 2.76 GB/FB. That mitigates some against the fact batters tend to hit it hard against him when they do make contact. This also partially explains why he yielded a .355 BABIP in 2021 and .340 in his career. With most of those hits going up the middle, he should be aided by having Francisco Lindor up the middle.

As noted, Rodriguez is lethal against left-handed batters. That is important for the Mets with powerful left-handed bats in the division like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Juan Soto. However, the Mets are going to have to find a way to get him to pitch better against right-handed batters. That is all the more important with the three batter reliever rule.

The fact is Rodriguez is terrible against right-handed batters. They hit .338/.380/.446 against him. They also aren’t fooled against him the way left-handed batters are with their striking out 19.3%. The end result is more balls in play which are hit much harder.

Now, this is an area of success Jeremy Hefner has had as pitching coach. Last year, Aaron Loup continued the success he found against right-handed batters with the Tampa Bay Rays limiting them to a .211/.290/.257 batting line. Until his season ended due to a torn UCL, we also saw Joey Lucchesi find similar success limiting right-handed batters to a .236/.295/.436 batting line a year after getting tattooed by them.

Ultimately, Hefner is going to have to work with Rodriguez to find a way to be more effective against right-handed batters, especially since there is no more LOOGYs. If Hefner can do that, Rodriguez is going to be a real weapon out of the pen much like Loup was last season. If not, Buck Showalter is going to have to be all the more strategic in choosing spots for the reliever.