Dave Cokin
Bonus Play Tuesday
RED SOX (Rodriguez) at ORIOLES (Gausman) 7:05 PM
Take: ORIOLES -119
Eduardo Rodriguez takes the big league mound for the first time this season tonight. The talented Red Sox lefty got in 28 innings of work at AAA Pawtucket in his rehab, and his most recent start was very solid. ERod will move into the starting slot formerly held by Clay Buchholz, with the veteran righty banished to the bullpen for at least the time being.
Kevin Gausman will throw for Baltimore tonight. Gausman is still looking for his first win of the season, as he’s had only two decisions to date and lost each of those. But that’s not to suggest Gausman has pitched poorly. Only two of his seven outings would fall into the lousy category, although one of those was his most recent effort as he got burned by the long ball against the Astros.
The Red Sox have a murderous offense, and Gausman is going to have his work cut out for him tonight. Boston also has momentum after dusting off the O’s on Monday behind another sterling performance by knuckleballing Steven Wright.
But I’m going against Rodriguez here. The info I’ve gotten is that the Red Sox are a little concerned about a dip in velocity from where he was last season. The thought is that this isn’t a major worry, and it’s more a case of the southpaw just needing to get stronger. I can’t disagree with the idea of bringing him back right now even if he’s not yet 100%. The Red Sox had to bump Buchholz and even if he’s not at peak level right now, Rodriguez is probably an upgrade over the struggling righty. But that’s not to say he’s in go with form at the major league level right away.
It’s not like the Bonus Plays I’ve been posting here have been any good of late. In fact, they’ve been absolutely terrible this month. So I can’t blame anyone for taking this play with a grain, or maybe make that a barrel of salt. The Red Sox are a machine with the bats these days, the Orioles haven’t been producing as they did earlier the season and Gausman hasn’t exactly been Mr. Lucky. But off the info on Rodriguez and maybe a feeling that Gausman is way overdue to catch a break, I’m going with the Orioles as small chalk tonight.
