It’s pretty safe to say that Joely Rodriguez struggled to start the year with the Phillies. The lefty gave up seven runs on ten hits and four walks in his first 5.1 innings. He gave up a home run in three straight outings, yielding an astronomical 42.9% home-run-to-fly-ball rate. The only things keeping Rodriguez in the majors were the fact that Adam Morgan was pitching even worse and that the team needed at least one lefty in the bullpen.
A change was necessary, and Rodriguez made a small one by raising where he holds the ball before he begins his motion.