Former Red Sox Starting Pitcher Bluntly Called Out By Manager

Friday was a frustrating evening for Torey Lovullo, Eduardo Rodríguez and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

First and foremost, the Snakes were outlasted by the National League West rival Los Angeles Dodgers in a 14-11 shootout at Chase Field. Rodríguez was responsible for nearly half of the visitors’ runs, but the veteran southpaw allowing nine hits over 2 2/3 innings wasn’t what had Arizona’s manager the most irked after the game.

Rodríguez was exposed for a lack of hustle not once, but twice in his brief outing. After failing to cover home on a Shohei Ohtani RBI double in the second inning, the Diamondbacks starter was slow to get off the mound on a Chris Taylor bunt single in the third.

Lovullo wasn’t pleased with either demonstration, but one of those incidents sparked more anger than the other.

“I’m more upset that he didn’t back up home plate than I am not getting off the mound,” Lovullo told reporters, per Sports Illustrated. “So that type of stuff bugs the F out of me.”

Rodríguez is in the second season of the four-year, $80 million deal he signed with the D-Backs in December 2023, but Lovullo was familiar with the 32-year-old well before he arrived in the desert. The 2017 NL Manager of the Year was the Red Sox’s bench coach in 2014 when Rodríguez was traded to Boston, and they worked together for two seasons under John Farrell before Lovullo took the Arizona job after the 2016 season.

Thus far, the Diamondbacks haven’t seen any positive returns on their investment in E-Rod. He posted a 5.04 ERA over 10 starts last season, and Friday’s stinker dropped his 2025 ERA to 6.86.