Edición 177 de El Infield Podcast. Carlos Valmore Rodríguez y Efraín Zavarce entrevistan a Pedro Rodríguez, quien fungió durante las primeras semanas de la temporada 2024-2025 de la LVBP, como exitoso cerrador de los Tiburones. El ya veterano relevista, con 76 salvados de por vida en la liga, aspira a convertirse en el segundo pitcher en la historia del circuito con al menos 100 rescates.
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00:00This edition of Infil is brought to you by Apuestas Royale.
00:15Hello, how are you? Welcome to a new edition of the Infil podcast.
00:23Today we are joined by Efrain Zavarze and Carlos Balmore Rodriguez.
00:29And speaking of Rodriguez, our guest today is Pedro Rodríguez.
00:38And Pedro Rodríguez is news these days in the LBBP,
00:44because having recovered functions of Cerrador,
00:50he already adds four saves, he has zero effectiveness after eight chapters
00:58and has given solidity to the bullpen of the Guaira sharks.
01:04For a long time, Pedro, we haven't seen you throw like this,
01:08we haven't seen you work regularly in the ninth,
01:13and that's the first thing we want to talk to you about.
01:17How did that return to the ninth episode happen, to save games?
01:23Good morning, Carlos, good morning Efrain.
01:25Look, the truth is that it all comes from the confidence we've had here with Ozzy Guillén.
01:34The truth is that getting in shape, getting into a 100% healthy state,
01:41has given me that confidence to come and help the team in the finals.
01:49First of all, I arrived at the team without a fixed place,
01:54I arrived at the team in a condition like,
01:57come and win your place, come and prove that we can still count on you.
02:02And look, thank God things have happened,
02:06thank God I was able to regain my confidence,
02:12that confidence that I had had in previous years,
02:15to be able to help the team in the finals.
02:18But apart from the confidence you mention,
02:21what other factor has been fundamental for this positive start to the campaign,
02:27with respect to what happened to you in the previous three Safras?
02:31Look, there have been changes,
02:33there have been so many physical changes,
02:38as well as mechanical changes,
02:41that have helped me to have that success that I am having today.
02:46The truth is that I worked, it was a dead season,
02:50within what is a season as such, it was very active.
02:56The physical and mental preparation,
03:00the adjustments in mechanics that could help me,
03:06the fact that nowadays the pitches look different,
03:10the sinker, the corer, all those things look different to the batters,
03:16when it comes to executing it.
03:19And physically, well, the truth is that in previous years,
03:23I had been struggling with pain,
03:27certain things that affected me externally,
03:32but today I am totally focused on what baseball is,
03:41on the day-to-day, in the game,
03:45and that has been reflected today.
03:48Considering that for a pitcher,
03:51mechanics are fundamental,
03:54it is very important for the performance in his work,
03:57in what gives him to eat,
03:59it assumes that pitchers do not trust the adjustments of mechanics to anyone.
04:08That is why I ask you, was there someone with whom you worked,
04:13those adjustments that have made you so successful today?
04:17No, no, no, no, no.
04:19Look, you mentioned it,
04:22two or three seasons that I had that I really did not do my job as I used to do it,
04:32in those reflections that one makes year after year,
04:36one says, well, I have to do something different,
04:40different, which at that moment may not be a guarantee,
04:43but when you take it to the game,
04:45you see that it works for you,
04:47and you say, well, this can help me.
04:50Look, in Mexico I was pitching in a league that is played only on Sundays,
04:55in Yucatan,
04:58and I put all those things into practice there,
05:01things that gave me results,
05:04and when I came here I said, well, if it gave me results there,
05:07then why not put it into practice here in Venezuela?
05:12So that has helped me a lot,
05:18and things have worked out.
05:21Pedro, in an interview they did for you on the official page of LaLiga,
05:27you said that the fact that you advised your son
05:38about the importance of physical preparation,
05:43led you to rethink that aspect of the life of an athlete that is so important,
05:54and I would like you to tell us about that,
05:57about that motivation, and why it came this year.
06:01Yes, totally.
06:03My son Sebastián, as you say, he is 13 years old,
06:06and my son Santiago is 9 years old.
06:08They are starting their development in baseball.
06:12The truth is that this year, as I had the time to share with them,
06:17I dedicated myself to helping them develop and train in baseball.
06:23Notice that at first it was totally normal,
06:27like taking your son to the park and playing with them,
06:30but then my son talks to me and says,
06:34Dad, I want to...
06:35The oldest?
06:36The oldest, the oldest.
06:38He tells me, look, I want to be like you,
06:41I want to give myself an opportunity in baseball,
06:43I want to try to develop, to achieve something,
06:45and I tell him, are you sure of what you're telling me?
06:49Are you sure? Because this is something very complex,
06:52it's not just that I'm going to go to the stadium today,
06:54I released a couple of balls, I did a couple of swings,
06:56and I'm going to be a professional.
06:58If you want to dedicate yourself to this,
07:00I will give you the opportunity,
07:02but I'm going to work with you as it is done in baseball.
07:05And he tells me, yes, let's do it,
07:07and then the decision was made to continue day by day
07:13what practice is in baseball.
07:17At first, really, I felt it was normal,
07:21but I think I took it to another level.
07:26I took it to another level when I said,
07:28well, if I'm going to take this seriously,
07:31I have to teach my son what discipline is,
07:34what constancy is, how you eat,
07:38what time you go to bed, what time you get up,
07:41what is Ignacio's work like,
07:44what is the work like on the field.
07:46And that was one of the changes that helped me a lot
07:50when it came to being the way I am today.
07:54It helped me a lot because sometimes
07:57my work during the offseason,
08:02but sometimes it relaxed me a lot.
08:05It relaxed me a lot and this time it was different
08:10because this time it was a commitment that I acquired with my son.
08:13So we trained every day, there was no failure.
08:16It was from Monday to Saturday with this discipline,
08:21with this constancy of going to the gym,
08:23of the food, what time you get up,
08:25what time you go to bed, all those things.
08:28So that radical change that happened in Pedro Rodríguez this time,
08:36I think it was an extra motivation,
08:39an extra motivation for me to train,
08:43for me to prepare to come here to Venezuela.
08:46Pedro, the ideal thing is for a son to see a father as a model,
08:52to see him with admiration,
08:54but unfortunately that doesn't always happen.
08:57That's why I ask you, what meaning did it have for you
09:04that your older son told you,
09:07Dad, I want to be like you?
09:10If he knew that, that was the commitment I had, right?
09:14More than anything, that's the word I use to define it.
09:18The meaning for me was commitment.
09:21Why? Because I said I have to be the example of myself.
09:26I have to set an example for him.
09:28Sometimes, it's not for nothing, but as a professional player
09:33and also as a father of a family, you have different tasks.
09:36Throughout the day, you put them together and it's something, you know?
09:41You get tired as a father, you get tired in training.
09:46I really work, it's a fairly complete training,
09:51both in the gym, a lot of mobility.
09:55I'm almost 37 years old and I don't have the same mobility
09:59as when I was 25 or 24 years old.
10:01But I would define it as the commitment I had
10:08to be an example for myself.
10:12They say that teaching teaches, Pedro.
10:16It seems to be another case, right?
10:21Yes, yes, look.
10:23In Mexico, during the time I was there,
10:31I dedicated myself to doing clinics,
10:34to work with younger guys.
10:37And they saw the way I trained, you know?
10:42How I trained and how I taught them
10:45and how they felt when we were on the field.
10:48And I say, Carlos, that this has been an inspiration for me.
10:53Sometimes it's not just teaching my son
10:57what you can do in baseball,
11:00but also showing others that when you work,
11:05you make an effort, you do everything because you like baseball,
11:09because you're in love with baseball.
11:11Look, you can achieve a lot.
11:13The guys would tell me,
11:15Mr. Pedro, how do you do it?
11:17To be ready every day,
11:19to come here and train as hard as you train.
11:24It's consistency.
11:25You have to fall in love with this process.
11:27You have to fall in love with baseball.
11:29To feel that baseball is part of your life.
11:32And in the end, in baseball,
11:35what you control is what you do on the field,
11:41what you do at work.
11:44Because you start to see,
11:46you don't control other things.
11:48You don't control a manager's decisions.
11:51The decisions of an office have been made,
11:53you don't control them.
11:55The only thing we can control is to work
11:57and the rest is in God's hands.
11:59This is the Infield Podcast,
12:01today with Pedro Rodríguez.
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12:31We are talking in the Infield Podcast
12:34with Pedro Rodríguez.
12:36Pedro Rodríguez, now, once again,
12:39a closer in the LBP with the Guaira Sharks.
12:43Pedro, when did you know you were going to be a closer?
12:48And how was that conversation with manager Osvaldo Guillén?
12:53Look, as I told you at the beginning,
12:56I came back to the Guaira without a permanent position.
13:01It was something that I totally understood.
13:03I came from a not very good season.
13:07I didn't play in the summer.
13:10And when I contacted the management,
13:12they explained to me that I didn't have a permanent position in the team,
13:16that I had to come and fight for a position.
13:19But the truth is that I was totally confident
13:22that things were going to go well.
13:25Look, as I told you,
13:27I never thought I was going to close the game.
13:30I always thought...
13:31I said, well, the position they give me,
13:33fifth, sixth, seventh inning,
13:35because I know the material the Guaira has
13:37to get to its final innings,
13:39I was going to take it.
13:40There was no problem with that.
13:42I had never claimed a position like that.
13:47Once the practices started,
13:51I was able to show the team that I was in full condition.
13:55They put me in the eighth inning,
13:58and Aaron McGarrity was in the ninth inning.
14:05I think I didn't do so well in the first two games.
14:10And that's when they told me
14:12that I was going to throw in the ninth inning.
14:14I was totally surprised, as I told you,
14:16given the arms that are here in Tiburón de la Guaira,
14:20the young arms.
14:22But it was something that I assumed with total tranquility.
14:26I was very happy,
14:28because I hadn't closed games here in Venezuela for a long time.
14:33I took it as a challenge,
14:36to take advantage of this opportunity
14:39to show what you have been doing,
14:43to show your change,
14:44and to show that Pedro Rodríguez is still in baseball.
14:48And who notified you, the manager himself or the office?
14:52The manager himself.
14:53I talked to Ozzy, and Ozzy told me.
14:56We were coming from a trip,
14:59and both Ozzy and Enrique González de Fresas
15:03told me that I was going to be in the ninth inning
15:06from the next game.
15:08Pedro, you have 76 saves,
15:10you are the thrower among the assets
15:13with the most saves at this time in the league.
15:16Only Richard Garcés has more than 100 saves on the circuit.
15:22You are close to turning 37,
15:24so I ask you,
15:27do you see it possible to reach the hundred saves?
15:31Is it a goal for you?
15:32Is it something you would like to achieve?
15:35Yes, of course, of course.
15:37Of course I would like to.
15:39Yesterday I was talking to one of my teammates about that,
15:45and I say that
15:47that rethinking that I could have
15:49made me think totally differently.
15:52If you had asked me, maybe last year,
15:54I would have told you that I didn't know.
15:57I didn't know.
15:59I doubted it, but today I don't doubt it.
16:01Today I don't doubt it.
16:02I feel very good.
16:04Physically, I am very good.
16:05Mentally, I am better.
16:08It is so much confidence that at this moment
16:10I feel that if I stay healthy,
16:14I could achieve it.
16:16I think that, at least right now,
16:18I am in a very winning team.
16:21There is nothing for sure that can guarantee
16:24that I can continue to close games,
16:26but as long as I have that opportunity,
16:27believe me, I will continue to take advantage of it.
16:30You talk about opportunities,
16:32of saving encounters from now on.
16:34The goalkeeper has Hernando Hernández.
16:36He, for example, was the one who closed
16:38the Sunday match.
16:40You launched the eighth episode of that match.
16:45I ask you, what is the difference for you
16:49between a closed game,
16:52launching in the seventh,
16:54in the eighth,
16:55or doing it in the ninth?
16:56If there is any difference for you.
16:59No, the truth is that I don't feel any difference.
17:03The truth is that the plan is always the same.
17:07To attack the beaters,
17:09to get out of them quickly
17:11and try to do the work for the team.
17:15The truth is that I don't feel any difference
17:18between the seventh, eighth, ninth inning.
17:23The goal is the same.
17:25The goal is the same.
17:27When you enter the seventh, eighth, ninth,
17:30you have to get three outs
17:31and give the team the victory.
17:33But you talked at the beginning
17:35of your repertoire, of your releases.
17:38You mentioned the sinker, the corer.
17:41At this moment, what is the pitch
17:44in which you deposit your faith the most?
17:48There is a pitch that I haven't written to you.
17:50There is a pitch that I haven't written to you.
17:52No, there is a pitch that I haven't written to you
17:54and it's called trust, brother.
17:56Look, through different interviews
18:02that my teammates have done,
18:05I think I've never had a pitch
18:08that you say, wow, what a pitch,
18:10a slider, a curve.
18:12I think that more than anything
18:13it has been trust, Carlos and Efraín.
18:18I do see many conditions
18:20in the arms of the other players,
18:23of the other teammates,
18:24that I see that they have tremendous sliders,
18:26tremendous curves, changes, I don't know.
18:28But I have always been a pitcher
18:31that I have characterized
18:32because I like to challenge the batters.
18:34I like to work with them in the area,
18:39attack them inside, attack them outside,
18:42lift the ball.
18:46And I think that's part of confidence.
18:50More than a pitch, it's confidence.
18:53I told a journalist the other day
18:58and I told him,
18:59it's so much confidence that nowadays
19:01I feel that they put me to tell you
19:03that Chovey or Tania will hit right now
19:05and it's going to be the same Pedro Rodriguez.
19:08I go to myself and I throw the pitch
19:10that I feel like,
19:11because everything is in confidence.
19:13It's not just a pitch.
19:14What do you do with having the best curve,
19:16the best slider, the best change
19:17if you don't have confidence in yourself?
19:20I think the most reliable pitch
19:24is confidence.
19:27You were talking earlier
19:28about how circumstances off the pitch
19:31affected you in terms of your performance
19:35in the previous years,
19:37considering that the work of the last innings
19:41is so short and requires so much concentration.
19:46I ask you,
19:47is it difficult for you to separate
19:49the problems that all human beings have
19:52outside of our professional activity
19:56from what you have to do on the pitch?
20:00Yes, it is totally.
20:03I think that when you're on the pitch,
20:07you should be 100% focused
20:09on what you're doing at that moment.
20:11Look, although a lot of people deny it,
20:15I think that when you have an external problem,
20:18there's always a little distraction
20:22when it comes to throwing.
20:25That little thing takes your focus away,
20:29maybe in a pitch, in a batter.
20:32Sometimes, at least right now,
20:35I'm throwing and you can tell me
20:39whatever you want,
20:40you can say whatever you want.
20:42There can be 40,000 people in a stadium
20:44shouting and saying,
20:46and I'm not going to listen to them.
20:48There can be a batter
20:50doing anything to me,
20:52anything that might distract me
20:53and I'm not going to see it.
20:55It's so much the focus as such
20:57and it's not for nothing.
20:59Those things are things that are worked on.
21:01You understand?
21:02They are things that,
21:03apart from the fact that one has to be
21:05totally focused on that,
21:07it is worked on.
21:09And previously,
21:11if I had had it,
21:12those little external things
21:14did distract me a lot
21:17from what I had to do,
21:18both the problems, I don't know,
21:20outside, at home,
21:22wherever I went,
21:25maybe with something
21:27that I couldn't achieve.
21:29At least in Tigres,
21:30when I was in Tigres, Aragua,
21:33I didn't have a good time there.
21:36I had a lot of problems
21:37when it came to
21:39fixing the contracts with Victor Zambrano.
21:43There were many, many, many details
21:45that were negative in my time
21:47in Tigres, Aragua,
21:48that right now in Tiburones de la Guaira
21:51there are none, you know?
21:53I got to an organization where,
21:55as they say,
21:57they are totally organized.
21:59Totally organized.
22:01I think that here
22:03there are no distractions
22:04that you can say,
22:05look,
22:07I need this,
22:09I need that,
22:10the manager told me this,
22:11the manager that,
22:12there is such pressure,
22:14there is such humiliation.
22:15No, no.
22:16Here, really,
22:17things have been very good
22:19and let's hope they will continue like this.
22:21You talk about your experience
22:22with the Tigres de Aragua,
22:24you mention Victor Zambrano,
22:26I understand that you leave
22:28the Cariobas de Anzuategui
22:30because at some point
22:31they couldn't reach
22:33an economic agreement either,
22:35and that, one understands,
22:37is common,
22:38not only in baseball,
22:39but in any professional activity.
22:41Do you feel that
22:43the salary discussion
22:45with Samuel Mosquatell
22:47in the Cariobas de Anzuategui
22:49was, for example,
22:50different from the one you had
22:51with Victor Zambrano in the Tigres?
22:54Look,
22:55I think there were two different times
23:00when I was with the Cariobas de Anzuategui
23:02at the time of Samuel Mosquatell.
23:04We were in the United States
23:05at that time
23:07and the discussion we had
23:09was about the fact that
23:11at that time
23:12I don't think you could pay
23:14a Criollo in dollars,
23:16you know?
23:17So,
23:18that was one of the things
23:20that happened
23:23for me to leave
23:24the Cariobas de Anzuategui
23:26and since I arrived in Magallanes,
23:28I was given that facility,
23:31you know?
23:33And what happened in Tigres
23:37was that
23:40almost never
23:41in the two seasons
23:42that I had with them
23:45we were able to get to an arrangement
23:47where both of us were satisfied,
23:50you know?
23:51Sometimes those things
23:52also influence
23:53when it comes to doing the job.
23:56Pedro,
23:58you have 76 saves
24:00even though you arrived in La Liga
24:02if you want to,
24:03late.
24:04And I would like to go back
24:06to that time
24:07when you still
24:09didn't appear
24:10in the national circuit.
24:12How was that process
24:14to finally get
24:16to the LBBP
24:18at an age
24:19where already
24:21many or some
24:22have been
24:23for a few years
24:25touring the circuit?
24:28Look,
24:29at that time
24:30I was released
24:31by the Cariobas de Anzuategui
24:34I don't remember
24:35what year it was
24:372008 or something like that
24:382007, 2008 or something like that
24:40I was released
24:41by the Cariobas de Anzuategui
24:42who were playing
24:43at that time
24:44I think it was called
24:45La Liga Mayor
24:46La Liga
24:48La Liga Bolivariana
24:50They were playing
24:51La Liga Bolivariana
24:52and I was playing
24:53in the same team
24:54as Ale Guerrera
24:55who is now on vacation
24:57and he told me
24:58he saw me signing
24:59I came from a surgery
25:00in Tomillón
25:01he saw me signing
25:02and he told me
25:03you are ready
25:04and I don't understand
25:05why they released you
25:06come with me
25:07I will help you
25:08so they can see you again
25:10and I went with him
25:12and once I was there
25:14the Cariobas de Anzuategui
25:15said
25:16hey
25:17what are you doing here
25:18if he doesn't have an invitation
25:19we will release him
25:21and Ale
25:23talks to them
25:24and says
25:25he is ready
25:26he is healthy
25:27I want you to see him
25:29and they said
25:30we don't want to see him
25:31we don't want anyone
25:32who is ready
25:33to sign
25:34in the big team
25:35ready to help us
25:37and he says
25:38see him
25:39you haven't seen him
25:40I am playing with him
25:41see him
25:42and I think
25:43he is ready to help us
25:44well
25:45at that time
25:46they gave me the opportunity
25:47to see me
25:48and the first day
25:49I got there
25:50you know
25:51they put me
25:52Luis González
25:53in a LiveVP
25:54Luis González
25:55Eliécer Alfonso
25:56was
25:57Stricto Realba
25:58then
25:59Boca Caballo
26:00Jonathan Herrera
26:01like
26:02well
26:03go
26:04define yourself with them
26:05and I launch the LiveVP
26:06and I convince them
26:07they call me again
26:08they say
26:09hey
26:10we want you to launch
26:11another LiveVP
26:12they put me
26:13with the same people
26:14and I did the job
26:15and they told me
26:16on the third day
26:17I remember
26:18I started the season
26:19they told me
26:20the team is ready
26:21don't worry
26:22now worry
26:23and from there
26:24look
26:25the same year
26:26that
26:27they sign me
26:28they sign me again
26:29they give me the opportunity
26:30again
26:31that same year
26:32I end up saving
26:33games
26:34in my first year
26:35it was
26:36two
26:37two
26:38something like that
26:39two
26:40four
26:41I don't remember very well
26:42but
26:43but look
26:44in my first year
26:45I already felt
26:46I was going to close
26:47a game
26:48in the Venezuelan league
26:49and
26:50then
26:51the opportunity
26:53as such
26:54to close a game
26:55I think it was
26:56in the
26:57in the
26:58season
26:59two thousand
27:00fourteen
27:01something like that
27:02that I think
27:03I ended up closing
27:04like
27:05saving like
27:06twelve
27:07eleven games
27:08and you start to see
27:09Carlos
27:10my seasons
27:11as a
27:12closer
27:13I have played
27:14throughout
27:15fifteen
27:16sixteen
27:17seventeen
27:18seasons
27:19I don't know how to tell you
27:20I don't
27:21know how to tell you
27:22but
27:23fifteen
27:24fifteen seasons
27:25ok
27:26but
27:27the seasons
27:28as a closer
27:29as such
27:30have been few
27:31what happens
27:32is that
27:33I have had
27:34good seasons
27:35like I had
27:36with Magallanes
27:37that I managed
27:38to close
27:39I think it was
27:40seventeen games
27:41there was one
27:42of seventeen
27:43and one of nineteen
27:44nineteen
27:45with the Caribbean
27:46yes
27:47with the Caribbean
27:48so you start to see
27:49and I think
27:50with Lara
27:51I also had
27:52some of
27:53ten
27:54something
27:55I don't remember
27:56eleven
27:57well something like that
27:58I say
27:59I say that
28:00at some point
28:01I would sit down
28:02and see that number
28:03at some point
28:04when I retired
28:05from there
28:06but
28:07they have been few
28:08the years
28:09as such
28:10that I was
28:11as a closer
28:12and that
28:13today I have
28:14seventy-six saved
28:15means that
28:16the times that
28:17I have been given
28:18that confidence
28:19that I have
28:20when I was
28:21in the
28:22position
28:23that I was
28:24in
28:25in the
28:26preseason
28:27I have
28:28not
28:29had
28:30a lot
28:31of
28:32confidence
28:33that I
28:34have
28:35in
28:35the
28:36times
28:37that I
28:38have
28:39been
28:40given
28:41that
28:42confidence
28:43that I
28:44have
28:45in
28:46the
28:47preseason
28:48What I'm doing right now, anyone can do it, so at the end of February we'll sit down and see the numbers and see how the season went.
29:18It was presented by Apuestas Royal.