Rodriguez continues to play through his recovery from an offseason surgery meant to correct a hand injury he suffered last season. Schlossnagle has said on multiple occasions that it’s just a matter of pain management for Rodriguez now, but that pain seemed to be particularly present in a 9-8 Longhorns loss to Ole Miss.
On multiple occasions Friday night, Rodriguez seemed to be favoring his hand after swinging and missing. Once, in the ninth inning, Schlossnagle even came out to speak to him in the middle of an at-bat after Rodriguez’s reaction indicated that he was in pain.
“The same stuff,” Schlossnagle said when asked about Rodriguez’s body language. “A-Rod, you know, he’s awesome. Kid wants to win so bad. …One of the most courageous players I’ve ever coached, what he’s dealing with and what he’s going through this year. He’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Rodriguez played through the injury last season, too. Suffered during a series at Missouri in late March, the injury prevented Rodriguez, a switch-hitter, from batting right-handed for the rest of the season.
He’s back swinging from both sides of the plate this year, and he’s been generally effective. Rodriguez began the night with a .338 batting average and .927 OPS — exactly matching last season’s mark. The Flower Mound product worked all offseason to drop weight in an effort to play shortstop effectively, and his efforts have been rewarded there, too.
But this game — Texas’ SEC opener and the Longhorns’ first defeat of the season — was rough. Rodriguez went 0-for-6 with three strikeouts — all swinging.
Swinging and missing exacerbates the pain in Rodriguez’s hand, Schlossnagle said. He hadn’t done that very much in Texas’ first 16 games of the season, whiffing only six times. Friday’s results, though, were painful.
Overexertion, Scholssnagle has previously said, can cause problems for Rodriguez.
The sophomore is “special,” according to Schlossnagle, in that he doesn’t need hundreds of swings in the batting cage to prepare himself to play. The Texas coach is also trying to convey to Rodriguez that he doesn’t need to swing for the fences in order to be effective. Rodriguez doesn’t have a home run yet this season after slugging seven of them a year ago.
“I think he’s also understanding where he is in this moment in terms of hitting the home run,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m not saying he can’t hit a home run, but if he over-tries, that’s when his hand starts to bother him.”