Manuel Rodriguez Receives NWL Pitcher of the Week Honors

The Emeralds Mexican-born right hander received Northwest League Pitcher of the Week honors after appearing in two games while recording a perfect 0.00 ERA through 6 innings pitched.

Manuel Rodriguez made his first appearance of the week on Tuesday, July 4th, surrendering no hits, no runs, no walks, and collecting 4 strikeouts over 3 innings. Rodriguez's second and final appearance of the week came on Saturday, July 8th, and he impressed yet again by pitching another perfect 3 innings while striking out 5 of the 9 batters he faced.
 
Manuel has begun to emerge as a bullpen anchor for the Emeralds. The very diverse group of relievers have contributed to Eugene's astonishing team ERA of 2.65, which has been one of the bright spots among the team's accomplishments. Having a strike-throwing machine like Rodriguez could be a huge asset to Pitching Coach David Rosario moving forward into the season, by keeping the Emeralds in ballgames into the late innings.
 
Rodriguez is no stranger to success; he found it at the early age of 18 in the Mexican League for the Leones de Yucatan after getting named Rookie of the Year and a Mid-Season All-Star in 2015. He capped off his foreign league career as a reliever with a 2.93 ERA over 67 innings pitched. It's no surprise that he's been successful with the Emeralds club as he was an extremely effective pitcher in Mexico and continues to be very stingy in allowing runs.
 
Manuel Rodriguez and the Emeralds will look for continued success as they visit the Hillsboro Hops for a three-game series, whom they previously swept at home back in late June. Success on the road could easily help the team take sole ownership of the first place spot among the NWL South division which they currently share with the Boise Hawks and the Hops as well.