The Boston Red Sox slowly are starting to trickle in for spring training workouts down in Fort Myers, Fla.
Several pitchers were on hand for voluntary workouts Monday before the start of pitchers and catchers this week. And Alex Cora was happy with what he saw — especially from Eduardo Rodriguez.
The lefty threw his first bullpen of the spring Monday, and his manager was impressed with the physical shape the 25-year-old is in to start camp, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne.
“Eddie looks great, physically. Everybody is in the best shape of their life when they come to Spring Training, but he’s actually in the best shape of his life,” Cora said.
Cora noted that Rodriguez was able to spend much of the offseason working on his arm and his body, rather than rehabbing from injury like he had to do in the past.
“For the first time in a while, he was able to have a normal offseason, and you can see it in his body,” Cora said.
Rodriguez went 13-5 with a 3.82 ERA with 23 starts for the Red Sox, tossing 129 2/3 innings. the lefty figures to be an important piece to the backend of the Red Sox rotation as the club tries to defend its World Series championship from 2018.