It has been a disappointing season for the Toronto Blue Jays who could become sellers at the upcoming trade deadline, but there is hope that they can develop their young players as they move towards the future. One of those players who has potential is Yariel Rodriguez, the 27-year-old right-hander they signed this offseason. Yariel draws an intriguing matchup today and I am showing some value on his strikeout prop. Let’s dive in!
Yariel Rodriguez (TOR) over 4.5 strikeouts recorded (-135)
Yariel Rodriguez is a Cuban-born pitcher who has spent the majority of his professional career pitching in his home country as well as Japan. Now at 27-year-old, Rodriguez has been pitching professionally for nearly a decade, yet his status in this league is as of a rookie. The right-hander began his MLB tenure with solid but brief outings against the Rockies and Padres, racking up 13 strikeouts with only 2 earned runs allowed in those 7.2 innings of work. His next two starts were against a low-whiff rate Royals lineup, earning just 3 strikeouts in that 7.2 inning span. He hit the injured list with back soreness following those outings before returning with a lackluster start against Cleveland. Rodriguez bounced back well by tossing a career-high 6.2 innings against a tough Astros lineup on July 1, recording 6 punch outs against a low strikeout lineup. He tossed 6 more frames on the road against Seattle in his next start before 4 innings of 2-run ball against Arizona in his most r ecent outing. With 6 and 7 strikeouts in those respective starts, Rodrguez has now soared past this 4.5 line in 3 consecutive outings, and 4 of his 5 starts with at least 80 pitches thrown.
Those last 3 starts for Rodriguez saw similar workloads, as the right-hander tossed 83, 82, and 82 pitches while facing 23, 20, and 19 batters. While I would like to see a heavier workload in terms of batters faced, Rodriguez is still more than capable of clearing this mark with the leash he has received. He uses 5 pitches at least 8% of the time, but his slider has been his best strikeout weapon so far this season with half of his punch outs coming on that offering alone. His slider is generating a healthy 34.4% whiff rate, and it is a pitch he is comfortable using against either handedness of batter. Rodriguez is striking out right-handed batters 4.5% more than left-handers in his limited sample size, but his diverse repertoire should play well against the lefty bats of Tampa Bay today as well.