Posted at 12:49 p.m., Tuesday, January 23, 2007
UH pitcher Rodrigues cleared to play, to start Saturday
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
"It's been tough on him, I know, because he's had grab a catcher out of practice time do things on his own," Trapasso said. "He knows how to get ready because he's done it so long with us. He's in shape and ready to go.
"I'm mostly happy for Mark and obviously I'm happy for our whole team because it's going to help us and make us better and give us more depth in the bullpen. But mostly, I'm happy for him because of all he's been through, having missed two years because of this injury and battling back last year to get back to form."
Rodrigues returned last season, going 4-2 with a 4.66 earned run average in 15 appearances, 12 of them starts. He logged 58 innings.
After trasnferring from Los Medanos JC after the 2003 season, Rodrigues sat out the 2004 and 2005 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Last year, he was considered his fifth year, even though it was his third in terms of athletic eligibility. He needed to apply for a medical hardship to be eiligible for a sixth year to play his fourth athletic season.
