Wandy Rodriguez to pitch against Houston Astros on Saturday - MLB News
The Pittsburgh Pirates starter Wandy Rodriguez said on Thursday, July 26, that facing his former team Houston Astros will be a hard situation for him. Traded only on Tuesday to Pirates, Rodriguez shall have his first start for his team on Saturday.
Call it sheer coincidence or his luck, Rodriguez will have his first start against his former team, Houston Astros.
"It's a hard situation for me," Rodriguez said. "I played for a long time for the Astros organization and now I'm with the Pirates. I understand the situation the for the Astros. They traded me and now I'm here."
Wandy Rodriguez has a career ERA of 4.04 in his 227 games that he has played. He has started a total of 218 games, pitching 1306.2 innings, allowing 664 runs with 80 wins to his credit, losing 84 of the games.
This season, while representing the Astros, the starter maintained 3.79 ERA in his 21 games, having a record of 7-9. Having pitched 130.2 innings, he remains ninth in the National League ranking for most innings pitched by any starter.
He might not have had a particularly good season this year, but being associated with the Pirates wherein he will have enormous support of the offence shall enable him to pitch with more confidence.
The first test on Saturday will determine how stronger he feels with a relatively better team in the National League Central – that currently occupies the second position in the ranking.
His former team manager, Brad Mills, is looking forward to Rodriguez’s start against Houston Astros on Saturday. "I'm sure his emotions are going to be pretty high, as are ours as well going against him," he said.
How does he feel himself about the supposedly competitive game? He wants to wait in order to experience that in the upcoming game. “I need to wait until that because I don't know how I'll feel," he said.
Once he descends on the mound on Saturday, he will be eagerly looked to not only by his new team, but also the former and potentially new fans in the Pirates.
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