Buck Showalter should have fun with his bullpen after the Baltimore Orioles acquired Francisco Rodriguez from the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday evening. Rodriguez has been great so far in the season. Here are predictions on how K-Rod will perform as the Orioles look to make a playoff push in the A.L. East.
The Orioles are 57-44, 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox and two games behind the second place Tampa Bay Rays. If the season ended today, the Orioles and Rays would play in the A.L. Wild Card Game, proving the A.L. East is currently the toughest division in baseball.
Rodriguez fits this team perfectly. He has playoff experience after immediately tasting postseason baseball after closing for the Los Angeles Angels in his first season in the big leagues. In fact, he helped the Angels win a World Series that year in 2002 against the San Francisco Giants, introducing himself to the game at the age of 20. The Orioles only have three guys in their roster who have been to the World Series; Darren O'Day, Tommy Hunter and Scott Feldman, all of which formed part of the Texas Rangers teams that couldn't win in the Fall Classic in back-to-back season. Rodriguez is the only Oriole with a championship.
So far this year, Rodriguez has been lights out. He is 1-1 with a 1.09 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. The bad news for baseball is that his velocity is increasing overall as the season progresses. Check out Fangraph's average velocity tracker for Rodriguez's fastball in 2013.
In 24.2 innings, Rodriguez has 26 strikeouts. As the graph shows, Rodriguez didn't pitch at the start of the season, which is why he has pitched less than 25 innings. This could be great for the Orioles as the 31-year-old is building his arm strength, simultaneously being effective in the process.
Rodriguez has 10 saves in 2013 and can close a couple of games if Jim Johnson slips at any point of the season. The Orioles closer has converted 25 of 31 save opportunities, but as the standings show, blown saves could prove vital at the end of the year in a close-knit division.
Historically speaking, Rodriguez is a better pitcher at the end of the season. In September and October, Rodriguez is 6-6 with a 2.04 ERA in 121 appearances. The Orioles have a gamer in their hands and a true setup man as Rodriguez has performed well when his team needs him the most. Also, important to note is that Rodriguez can stifle lefties, as they are only hitting .105. That means Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson (when healthy), James Loney, Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz and Shane Victorino will have their work cut out for them when they Rodriguez late in the game.
Prediction: Rodriguez should continue dominating. He is no stranger to the American League and the fact that the Orioles are in the playoff race should only motivate the righty. The Orioles' bullpen ERA is 3.66, Rodriguez will only help lower that number as the season continues.
