Manager Rick Renteria noticed Rodn was "fidgeting" in the first inning, but the pitcher didn't complain about any discomfort when he returned to the dugout. When Rodn's velocity noticeably dipped in the second, the decision to remove him was an obvious one.
"We were already talking about it, and once he came in [after the second], he just said he was feeling a little something in his neck," Renteria said. "The ball wasn't coming out of his hand right, which is what we could see. We were already prepared to make a change at that point, because we saw what it looked like. We had him checked out."
The 27-year-old Rodn looked strong at the outset -- he threw nine straight strikes to open the game, but he also allowed two hits and a run in the 13-pitch first inning. He then yielded a base hit to Manny Pia with one out in the second before recording quick outs of Orlando Arcia (flyout) and Ben Gamel (groundout) to escape further damage.
Rodn's fastball maxed out at 92.2 mph in the first frame, but it dipped quickly, hitting a low of 85.6 mph in the second.
The drop was noticed by the other dugout.
"We faced him in that exhibition game over there [in Chicago on July 22], and he probably had 4-5 mph more on his fastball," Brewers right fielder Ben Gamel said. "I remember looking at [Brewers hitting coach Andy Haines] when I was going up to bat like, 'Is his velo down today?'"
2.0 IP
9 batters faced
26 pitches, 22 strikes
3 hits, 2 doubles
1 run, earned
0 walks
1 strike out
no decision