Rodriguez ready for next step

[BronxBomberz]

Roy Oswalt noticed a difference in Wandy Rodriguez this spring. Told early in camp that more would be expected from him this season, the introverted lefthander from the Dominican Republic appeared more at ease and more determined to fit in and be a key contributor. Newly acquired reliever Oscar Villarreal didn't meet Rodriguez until this spring, but he noticed the same thing Oswalt, Carlos Lee and manager Cecil Cooper had seen from the Astros' No. 3 starter. "Right away you can tell that he wants to be better," Villarreal said. "You can see he wants to learn. I talk to him and say, 'Let's go eat, let's do this and do that to have a good and long friendship.' He has a good future. His fastball is a very good one and his curveball is one of the best I've seen from a lefthander. Now he must just try to stay on top of the hitters so things turn out the way we want." As he takes the mound tonight at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres, Rodriguez is eager to show he has matured and paid close attention to the lessons he picked up from Woody Williams, Andy Pettitte, Oswalt and Villarreal over the last few years. With a solid fastball and an impressive curveball, Rodriguez is confident about his pitching arsenal. His maturity has been questioned in the past, though, and he understands Cooper would like to see him improve his mound presence. Rodriguez realizes he'll benefit if he minimizes his reactions after umpires make calls he dislikes. "I expect more of myself," Rodriguez said. "I expect to mature and do it well and show the team that in me they have a person they can have confidence in. I want to demonstrate to everybody that I'm a person the team can count on." To that end, Rodriguez must figure out a way to be as effective on the road as he was at home last year. While finishing 9-13 with a 4.58 ERA over 31 games last season, Rodriguez was 3-10 with a 6.37 ERA on the road compared to 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA at Minute Maid Park. How could he have the ninth-lowest home ERA last year while also claiming the highest road ERA in the majors among all qualifying pitchers? "Really I haven't given it much thought," he said. "I felt good away from home. I couldn't say I did one thing specifically wrong outside (Houston) because I felt bad. It just happened. "It helped me to have the home numbers that I had. That helped me have a good year. But it's very important to improve on the road. If I had the same numbers on the road that I had at home, it would have been an excellent season."

Astros' lefty Rodriguez ready for next step | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle