Rodriguez met with manager John Farrell and pitching coach Carl Willis to discuss his recent string of poor outings, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. "There was a lot covered in the meeting," Farrell said.
Aside from the pitch-tipping that continues to plague the young left-hander, an inability to keep pitches over the plate but out of the middle has wreaked havoc in his last three outings. Rodriguez has walked nine and given up six homers in his last 14.2 innings. He had incorporated a tweak in his delivery this spring -- taking a step back toward third base with his lead leg before getting into his windup -- trying to compensate for the whatever limitations he felt while recovering from a knee injury. The session with coaches discussed having him begin his delivery directly toward home plate, eliminating the step back toward third base. "There are some things because of the change in the delivery that's not put him in a position to consistently execute pitches," Farrell said. "That's what we're addressing."