The Milwaukee Brewers were aware that their most recent rookie starting pitcher wasn’t ready when he was called up, but they had to make the move due to circumstances, and now the rookie is seeing how much more he still needs to learn.
Video for Brewers In scouting jargon, there are a few standard expressions that stick to specific players very well. The one that remained with Carlos Rodriguez was “kitchen sink.” By big-league standards, Rodriguez doesn’t throw hard or have a one pitch that he can use to dominate opposition hitters. He employs a comprehensive strategy, delivering six distinct pitches to righties and lefties—five, if you subtract the little use he gives the changeup and slider to righties.
After three big league starts, Rodriguez’s kitchen sink appears to need some improvement. Having faced 57 hitters, he has a 7.30 ERA, 19 hits (three of which are home runs), and just nine strikeouts. That may be due in part to Rodriguez’s long-term inadequacies in his game as well as hard luck. For the most part, though, Rodriguez is being taught a harsh lesson by the league: the successful kitchen-sink strategy in MLB is a complicated one. Pitch mixing evenly is insufficient. Pitchers frequently adopt the kitchen-sink method because they are unable to execute a more simplified strategy reliably or tightly enough. Consider Rodriguez’s four-seam fastball, for example. Although it’s not a fast product, Rodriguez’s low-three-quarter position means that it has a flat vertical approach angle (VAA), a desirable trait for that pitch
The four-seamer’s effectiveness has two issues, or disadvantages. First of all, he hits the ball hard at the top of the zone to get that flat VAA rather than having a particularly nice ride on the pitch (even taking arm slot into consideration). Because it can only get strikes and outs for him when he can locate it at the upper edge of the zone, that reduces the pitch’s usefulness. Fly balls are more likely to be produced as a result, and hard-hit fly balls often result in home runs. He has already allowed two home runs and several other hits on the heater. This leads us to the second issue: Rodriguez isn’t doing a very good job of finding the fastball just now. Having a poor grasp of the pitch that really only plays at the edge of the zone–and along just one edge, at that–he’s not in any position to lean heavily on the fastball
Rodriguez must therefore be a multiple-fastball player, rather than a four-seamer, cutter, and sinker. In a way, that’s acceptable. Regardless, the Brewers would much rather have their pitchers be able to show their opponents multiple fastball looks. But in this instance, it sets off a series of events. Only against lefties can Rodriguez use his flat-VAA fastball, which he can only throw at the top of the zone combines with his curveball and not with his slider. It can also be used with the changeup. With his slider, his sinker functions, but not with his curve. While the cutter and sinker perform fairly well together, the cutter’s setup of the slider and curve is lacking. It’s also not a pitch that you can hit or miss.
Most of that could have altered in a year. Although Rodriguez possesses an athletic delivery, it could be a little more polished. If and when that is done, maybe his command will also get better. If he can master even two of these six pitches, the network of relationships between the offerings will expand to include multiple additional strands. It becomes more powerful.
It’s difficult to toss the kitchen sink at major league hitters. It’s an attempt to use cunning, timing, and placement to outmaneuver guys who are more adept at handling raw material than you are. Even for pitchers with decent pitchability, mastering those skills takes time. Rodriguez seems like the kind of pitcher who will catch on, so it’s not shocking that he hasn’t performed well right away. Not because he was trying to break into the major leagues, but rather because the team needed extra depth in the rotation, he was called up.
While these major league innings are valuable, the Brewers would undoubtedly like to use this summer’s Triple-A action to help him regain his confidence and get back into a groove so he can try to succeed in 2025 and earn a larger role. That should be the medium-term objective, but their injuries and depth chart make it untenable right now. While this is going on, Rodriguez can keep experimenting with lineups, flows, and mental approaches that could help him become a better employee, even though he knows a full year before he can truly succeed in the major leagues.