Rodriguez Will Need Game Action Within 10 Days to be Ready for Opener

(Twitter - @Sean_McAdam)

According to a tweet from Sean McAdam, John Farrell has stated that Eduardo Rodriguez will need to get into game action at some point within the next 10 days to be considered ready for the opener.

Rodriguez suffered a right knee injury while shagging fly balls during a practice at the end of February, similar to how Mariano Rivera injured himself in May of 2012. The young southpaw initially stated that he felt 'fine' after the tweak, but eventually it was reported that the 22-year old suffered a patella subluxation (dislocation of the knee cap).

Rodriguez was acquired at the 2014 trade deadline from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for left-handed reliever Andrew Miller and is considered a major piece of the Red Sox rotation moving forward.

It is needless to say that the injury has caused some understandable concern for Boston fans, however, the front office and coaching staff has been adamant there is no serious damage and that Rodriguez is recovering as expected.

Boston has plenty of depth to cover Rodriguez's spot in the rotation so it may be best to let him take his time and guarantee he returns at one hundred percent.

Henry Owens and Brian Johnson provide the Red Sox with other left-handed options, while knuckleballer Steven Wright has looked good this spring and had a 2.59 ERA over his final four starts last season before being sidelined with a concussion.

Rodriguez was 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA over 121.2 innings last season.