In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Dereck Rodríguez was optioned to AAA Sacramento today, with Erik Kratz reactivated from the Injury List as the corresponding move.
Rodríguez was the feel-good story of the 2018 season, a rookie sensation who helped center a chaotic rotation and earned votes in the Rookie of the Year ballot. So I say “somewhat surprising” because if you look at his last few starts, it isn’t quite unexpected.
Although all four runs in his start last night were unearned, Rodríguez allowed 12 earned runs in his previous two starts and is up to a 5.