NEW YORK -- Tanner Houck is here to provide a breather. Chris Sale waits in the wings, building toward an August return. Nathan Eovaldi is fresh off a trip to the All-Star Game.
Still, as the second half of the Red Sox season gets underway, a case could be made that no one is more important to their success than Eduardo Rodriguez.
The team spent most of the first half unsure of what they had in Rodriguez, who was coming off a year in which he first contracted COVID-19, and then, more ominously, myocarditis, which left him weakened and idle for months at a time.
Spring training brought with it its own issue - a dead arm that developed in the final weeks, taking Rodriguez out of a scheduled Opening Day start.
Ever since, the Red Sox have been unsure what they were to get from their lefty. In April, he had good results, winning all four of his starts in the first month. But that proved illusory -- Rodriguez got by thanks to some prolific run support and, frankly, some luck. In retrospect, the Red Sox have acknowledged that his early-season stuff was sub-par -- not surprising, perhaps, given he had missed an entire season.
But May and June brought more uncertainty. Along the way, Alex Cora voiced frustration Rodriguez wasn't making progress. Then, when he did, he became unlucky. He seemed prone to the "one bad pitch'' syndrome, liable to give up a home run or a big hit at the worst possible time.
More recently, the Sox were more encouraged by what they saw. His fastball had more life, his breaking pitches more life and his changeup more action. And still, though they had won six of his previous seven starts before Friday's date with the Yankees, in three of those, he had allowed four earned runs or more.
And there was his ERA for the season -- 5.52 -- which hardly inspired confidence.
On Friday, Rodriguez took the mound at Yankee Stadium with a freshly shaven face, symbolic, perhaps, of a fresh start as the second half kicked off. (Turns out his daughter found his beard abrasive). And Rodriguez used the outing as a chance to re-set things for himself, turning in 5.2 innings of shutout ball, earning the victory in the Red Sox' 4-0 win over the Yankees.
It wasn't the clean look that made the big impression Friday night, however. It was his ability to throw several of his pitches for strikes. Initially, he didn't get a lot of swing-and-miss in the early innings. But the second time through the order, Rodriguez got himself locked in. At one point, he had retired 11 in a row. And whether it was the diving action of his changeup, the life on his fastball or the distinct separation between the two offerings, Rodriguez suddenly appeared to be in complete control.
Over his last five outs, four were by strikeout -- and all were accomplished swinging.
"Little by little, he's been putting the pieces together,'' said Cora, "and now he's the guy that we saw in 2019 and we saw in the playoffs in 2018. This is the guy we envisioned. We do believe he's in a great spot and he's going to have a great second part of the season.''
It's easy to forget that, for a stretch between October of 2018 and through 2019, Rodriguez was the team's best starter. Sale was hurt, Eovaldi was hurt and inconsistent.
But Rodriguez was emerging as one of the better lefties in the American League. He felt shy of a 20-win season in 2019, but still topped both 200 innings and 200 strikeouts.
Now, that Rodriguez looks to be back. The stuff has been harvested. The delivery is clean. And, as important, Rodriguez has been able to make in-game adjustments. If one pitch is not up to snuff, he has a varied enough repertoire to go with other options.
"There was an at-bat against Gleyber (Torres),'' said Cora. "He threw back-to-back-to-back changeups to him. We haven't seen that in a while with (Rodriguez). That's what it's all about. He's confident with all his pitches and now it's just a matter of going out there and performing.''
"I want to keep pitching just like this,'' said Rodriguez.
There are approximately 15 regular season starts remaining for Rodriguez. The rotation is deep and getting deeper with Houck, and eventually, Sale. Someone, in time, may be crowded out and shifted to the bullpen.
But it won't be Rodriguez. Not if he pitches like he did Friday night to start the second, reminding the Red Sox of just what they have, and, with a glance over their shoulders to 2020, just what they missed.