Yariel Rodríguez was a free-agent signing last off-season. He signed for five seasons for a total of $32 million.
Yariel was born in Cuba and has played in Japan for the last three years. He played for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic.
We were told he was a hard thrower, getting his fastball up to the high 90s.
We didn’t know how he would be used, and the team would have to be careful with his innings, as he hadn’t pitched since throwing seven innings in the WBC in the spring of 2023.
I figured he’d likely be used in relief, maybe long relief, though the Jays seem to be against the idea of long relievers. I was wrong:
| Age | W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | ERA+ | FIP | H9 | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | 8 | 4.47 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 86.2 | 74 | 46 | 43 | 11 | 40 | 0 | 85 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 368 | 90 | 4.34 | 7.7 | 1.1 | 4.2 | 8.8 | 2.13 |
Baseball Reference has him at -0.1 WAR. FanGraphs was nicer, at 1.0 WAR, giving him a value of $8.1 million to the Jays.
He had a 4.34 FIP and a 4.42 xFIP.
Yariel had a .275 BABIP. 69.9% of his baserunners were stranded.
His strikeout rate was 23.1% (team average 21.7), and his walk rate was 10.9% (team average 8.3).
Rodríguez’s line drive rate was 21.0% (team average 21.4). Ground ball rate 37.4% (team average 40.7). Fly ball 41.6% (team average 38.9).
His soft contact was 18.4% (team average 15.6). Hard contact 27.2% (team average 34.2).
Yariel was slightly better against RHB (.236/.304/.390) than LHB (.220/.337/.383).
He was better at home (3.69 ERA, batters hit .224/.302/.364) than on the road (5.10 ERA, batters hit .233/.332/.406).
He was better in the first half (3.67 ERA, batters hit .222/.327/.373) than the second half (4.99, batters hit .234/.314/.396).
Rodríguez by month:
- April: 0-1, 4.11 ERA in 4 starts. Batters hit .302/389/.476 with 2 home runs, 8 talks and 16 strikeouts in 72 PA.
- May: Didn’t pitch in the majors.
- June: 0-1, 15.43 ERA in 2 starts. Batters hit .222/.462/.333 with 0 home runs, 4 walks and 1 strikeout in 13 PA.
- July: 1-2, 3.13 ERA in 5 starts. Batters hit .132/.256/.237 with 1 home run, 12 walks and 26 strikeouts in 91 PA.
- August: 0-2, 5.84 ERA in 5 starts. Batters hit .276/.330/.500 with 6 home runs, 7 walks and 23 strikeouts in 106 PA.
- September: 0-2, 3.38 ERA in 5 starts. Batters hit .208/.291/.325 with 2 home runs, 9 walks and 19 strikeouts in 86 PA.
The Jays were 7-14 in his starts.
Times through the order in his starts:
- First: Batters hit .201/.320/.338.
- Second: Batters hit .230/.285/.403.
- Third: Batters hit .379/.455/.586 in just 33 PA.
Rodríguez by Catcher:
- Danny Jansen: 5 games, 14 innings, 6.43 ERA, .293/.406/.431.
- Alejandro Kirk: 10 games, 46.2 innings, 4.63 ERA, .200/.290/.371.
- Brian Serven: 6 games, 26 innings, 3.12 ERA, .242/.314/.390.
His best game by GameScore? July 6th, a 74. In Seattle, he went 6 innings allowed, with 1 hit, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts.
Worst game? A 29 GameScore. August 27 in Boston. He went 5 innings, allowed 8 hits, 6 earned, 1 walk with 3 strikeouts and 1 home run.
Yariel averaged 4.1 innings per start.
We might have been better off with Yariel in the bullpen, but we needed a starter. But our bullpen was terrible, and Yariel likely would have been better off going 2-3 innings at a time out of the pen. We could have gotten him the same 80 some innings (he had 20 more innings throwing for the Bisons). Let him go out there and throw hard for as long as possible.
But then, who knows? Maybe this was a better way to work on his pitches and figure out how to get major leaguers out. In the 80s, the Jays liked using rookie pitchers as relievers early in their careers, thinking they could learn to get major leaguers out in less-pressure spots. But that idea seems to have gone by the wayside.
Despite the 1-8 record, I thought Yariel had a pretty good rookie season. And with 107 total innings, he should be able to get to the 150-ish level next year (unless they decide he’d be better off in the pen).
I appreciated his applauding the fans when he played out of his last season start.
Before the season, we asked:
- If the over/under on Yariel’s innings is 60: 49% of us were right.
- Will he start the season with the Jays? 30% of us were right in saying no; he started the season with the Bisons.
- Will he have more than an inning an appearance with the Jays? 70% were right saying yes (that he was a starter all season helped that).