Eduardo Rodriguez

Rodriguez surrendered homers to Juan Soto and Diamondbacks teammate Ketel Marte, but he struck out five against the best lineup baseball has to offer. Rodriguez averaged 93.5 mph tonight. He was at 93.1 in his first spring start, so both marks are clearly better than the 92 mph that's been his norm in recent years. His stock is trending up at least a little.

Rodriguez battled some command issues in this one, handing out three free passes, while notching a pair of strikeouts. He threw just 24 of 43 pitches for strikes. The 32-year-old lefty will get the ball for Venezuela at some point during pool play after Red Sox southpaw Ranger Suarez toes the rubber during Friday's World Baseball Classic opener against Netherlands.

Venezuela skipper Omar Lopez made it official that Suarez will take the ball at the front of a rotation that also includes Eduardo Rodriguez and Antonio Senzatela. The 30-year-old southpaw will make his Red Sox debut in the next few weeks after signing a five-year, $130 million contract in the offseason following eight seasons with the Phillies.

The 32-year-old southpaw didn't strike out or walk a batter in the contest. All three hits that he allowed came in the second inning and were all singles -- though he coaxed a double play ball out of Jac Caglianone to avoid any damage. He's coming off of a brutal 2025 season in which he registered a 5.02 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP across 154 1/3 innings, but we have seen the type of upside Rodriguez can have when he is going well.