SEATTLE – Francisco Rodriguez wants to pitch in high-leverage situations.
He made no bones about that last week, when he questioned the communication skills of manager Brad Ausmus and pitching coach Rich Dubee. Backed by 15 years of closing experience and 437 career saves, the veteran right-hander had grown exasperated over the past month hearing about how Ausmus wanted to see if he could, at age 35, still be trusted to pitch in such roles.
Thursday night was not a high-leverage situation.
“We were down two runs,” Ausmus said. “It’s not really a high-leverage situation.