Positive Progress for Eduardo Rodriguez’s Recovery Spurs Hope

Finally, some positive news emerged regarding Eduardo Rodriguez’s lat injury, as an MRI conducted on Wednesday delivered encouraging results.

According to Nick Piecoro at the Arizona Republic, the MRI indicated that Rodriguez’s healing progress is promising, allowing him to potentially commence a throwing program in the near future.

Rodríguez sustained a left lat strain during a Spring Training matchup against the Chicago Cubs on March 19th. Subsequently, he initiated a throwing program a week later. However, he halted these activities upon experiencing symptoms several weeks later, with imaging revealing inadequate progress in his lat region.

Consequently, he was transferred to the 60-day injured list effective April 17th. Reflecting on this circumstance, Torey Lovullo expressed regret regarding the management of the entire injury situation.

Lovullo acknowledged, “We all learned a very valuable lesson … If we could choose to do things differently, it would be to re-image, make sure everything was good and then keep pushing forward.”

Absence of Rodriguez from their starting rotation has contributed to the Diamondbacks‘ struggle to find stability. Currently, the D-backs possess the 9th worst team ERA in baseball, standing at 4.31.

In addition to Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly has also been out from the rotation, as he was similarly placed on the 60-day IL.

During his tenure with the Tigers last season, E-Rod boasted a 3.30 ERA and secured 13 wins. His acquisition by Arizona on a 4-year, $80 million contract in December raised expectations, yet he has yet to make an appearance in a regular season game this year.

If the throwing program that he is about to start goes well, Rodriguez should make his debut with the Diamondbacks sometime in June.