The Pittsburgh Pirates have activated Wandy Rodriguez off of the 15-day disabled list. To make room, they have optioned Jaff Decker to Triple-A. Rodriguez was expected to b activated today, as he’s the scheduled starter.
The move isn’t a good one for the Pirates. In his two rehab starts, Rodriguez gave up ten earned runs on 11 hits in 8.2 innings of work, with a 7:6 K/BB ratio and three home runs. All of that came at the Double-A level. Prior to his injury, he had a 7.65 ERA in 20 innings in the majors, along with seven homers and a 16:6 K/BB ratio.
I don’t see Rodriguez returning to the old Wandy Rodriguez, as he’s shown no signs of that happening. It seems more likely that he’ll continue to struggle until the Pirates replace him, which is what they should do right now with Brandon Cumpton.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
fwiw, I’m all for signing Kyle Farnsworth while he’s still pissed off. And the Bucs play the Mets in two weeks. Maybe I’m reacting to Melacon’s meltdown and Grilli’s inability to stay healthy, but IMO we could use another closer option.
that person is not Kyle Farnsworth. If I know Kyle, he’s somewhere getting drunk right now. Just like he would be when he was playing for the cubbies, about 3 hours before or after gametime
Pirates are doing their best to replicate 2010. Playing awfully. Not going all out to sign Abreu looking worse all the time! Should have built on last year by strengthening team. Going after Abreu was obvious! How much better would this team be with AJ and Abreu and Byrd as 4th outfielder after Polanco comes up. A poor series (predictable, they could easily get swept even though the Yanks are pretty mediocre themselves. As for Wandy, if Cumpton or Locke are better options, time for DFA. 2 more longballs today, enough!
I agree with everyone, the wand is definitely broken,slugs to follow.
We as fans don’t see the bullpens or are we privy to the meetings where they discuss what it is they need to see from a guy when he’s on assignment. There had to be a reason why management felt he could pitch today and have success. It’s definitely not luck, and if Wandy can pitch like he did today, he solidifies the rotation. Don’t get me wrong, I thought they were crazy, but it shows we don’t know shit.
The Pirates should trade Wandy immediately, before he has a chance to throw another pitch. He is at his peak trade value.
can’t argue with that. He’s healthy, trade him to Tampa
That’s probably true. But he did earn himself another start. I didn’t watch the game, but when I checked my phone and it was in the 4th inning and Brews only scored one, I did smile.
Wandy is at best a slightly over .500 pitcher with a high 3/low 4 ERA and a 1.3-1.4 WHIP who’s prone to HRs. Right now I think we’ll take that guy.
I’m taking a “Mental Health Day” as my students are taking their AP Exam today and I am exhausted from all the preparation for this.
Hmmm, what to do today?
Do I watch Wandy pitch against the Brewers in Miller Park or maybe call my dentist and schedule some unnecessary drilling without novacain?
Hmmmmm. choices…..choices…………..
they some money tied in wandy, he will have a short leash before heads to bull-pen as the new longman
Over and under for Wandy today…
Innings: 3
Runs: 5
This is a huge mistake – and the continuation of a bad strategy. Wandy should have been put on 60 day DL coming out of ST and left in Bradenton to work out his problems.
If healthy in early June give a spot start or two to see if he could contribute..
And I will stand by that even if he pitches well today.
To be fair, Wandy actually pitched reasonably well in spring training.
Not great, but good enough to justify a certain amount of optimism. His regular
season results, however, were abysmal, and I can’t imagine what he
accomplished during his equally abysmal rehab assignment that would
warrant his return to the major league rotation.
If the Pirates release Wandy, he doesn’t get picked up by anyone, Pirates try to assign him to AAA, and Wandy turns that down. Would the PIrates be free and clear of his salary?
I’m with you 100% about Wandy.
I agree wholeheartedly! I have no idea why the Pirates prefer Wandy to Cumpton. If it’s the money they are paying Wandy that is a serious error in judgement (Fallacy of Sunk Costs). The money on salaries is already spent. The only way to recoup that would be to trade Wandy, and I just don’t see that happening. Cumpton gives the Pirates a better chance to win today’s game. He should be on the mound today, not Wandy.
awe man i was just about to drop a “sunk cost fallacy” but you beat me to it!
i say Wandy to long relief until he gets his groove back, Cumpton to rotation, DFA Gomez. Maybe Wandy’s stuff can play up in shorter bursts.
Glad to hear of another “sunk cost fallacy” fan!
Since long relievers usually only pitch when you are far behind and only have a small chance of winning the game the position should be used to develop future talent in my opinion. So the question to ask is: who is most likely to be on the team in 2015? Wandy has zero chance of being on the team in 2015, so I would DFA Wandy. When Pimental is healthy I would DFA Gomez then. But Cumpton should be in the rotation today.
I would option Hughes back to AAA and keep Gomez and Pimentel and get rid of Wandy. Listen, I harped on this a lot when AJ left, but the fact is that pitching was our strength last year and the team went into the season with too many question marks in the rotation despite the fact that they had money they could have spent. This rotation would look much better with AJ and now it seems they are making another poor choice based on finances. There was, what, another week on his rehab stint but they bring him back despite his struggles and despite there being better options. Giving up wins, or at least competitive games, is tough whether it is in April/May or in September…and keeping Wandy around is basically conceding not being competitive once every 5th day.