Diamondbacks starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was removed from his start against the Cubs at Sloan Park tonight while warming up prior to the second inning. The television broadcast caught him wincing as he turned towards centerfield after spiking a warmup pitch in the dirt. He threw one more pitch, and then catcher Jose Herrera came out to the mound. Herrera then motioned for the trainer and Torey Lovullo came out. Following a brief conversation Rodriguez walked off the mound with the trainer. The team's X account reported that he was removed due to left lat tightness.
Rodriguez was signed to a four-year, $80 million dollar free agent contract this past offseason to plug a hole in the rotation behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. The D-backs' lack of rotation depth eventually caught up to them in game four of the World Series as they were forced to go with an opener. They were down 10-0 by the third inning. Mike Hazen vowed to upgrade the rotation after that and Rodriguez was the marquee pickup.
The veteran left-hander has eight seasons under his belt in the major leagues and was coming off one of the better seasons of his career, going 13-9 while posting a 3.30 ERA in 153 innings.
Stay tuned for further updates from Inside the Diamondbacks. Michael McDermott is on site in Mesa and will speak with Torey Lovullo after the game.
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