Position: C
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 200 lbs
Bats/Throws: B/R
Born: 05/26/2000
Country: Dominican Republic
Signed: International Free Agent, 2018 (Mets)
How Acquired: Trade (from Mets in three-way trade including Padres, involving Joe Mustrove)
Bonus: $10,000
40-man Roster: Yes
Rule 5 Eligible: N/A
Minor League Free Agency: N/A
Options Left: 3
Overview
Rodriguez is an athletic, switch-hitting catcher. The athleticism gives him a high ceiling defensively behind the plate, but it’s also allowed him to play other positions. He’s seen time at first and second, and in the outfield. He has a good arm and has usually had good caught-stealing percentages. His hitting approach was advanced coming up through the minors. He doesn’t have a great deal of power, but his approach may be good enough to let him maximize the power he has. The Pirates acquired Rodriguez from the Mets in the three-team trade that sent Joe Musgrove to San Diego.
2018-20
Rodriguez hit well in his two years in the low minors with the Mets. He didn’t play in 2020. The Pirates acquired him in January 2021 in the three-way trade that sent Joe Musgrove to San Diego.
2021-22
Rodriguez had an outstanding 2021 spent the season with Bradenton. He won the batting title and finished first in runs; second in OPS, slugging, doubles and RBIs; tied for third in home runs and triples; and fourth in OBP. He ended the season on a tear, with an OPS of 1.110 in August and .983 in September. In 2022, Rodriguez had an even bigger breakout season; he was the best hitter in the minors over the second half of the season. He spent the majority of the season at Greensboro, but moved up to Altoona in early August and saw brief action for Indianapolis. He got better at each level. Overall, he hit 323/407/590, with 25 home runs. The Pirates added him to the 40-man roster after the season.
2023-24
Rodriguez opened at Indianapolis and didn’t pick up in 2023 where he left off in 2022. He didn’t hit badly; he had a .726 OPS in April and .708 in May. He got hot in mid-June, batting 351/441/545 through mid-July, when the Pirates called him up. He got off to a good start in the majors and had a .767 OPS as late as August 21. As part of a recurring pattern with the team’s hitting prospects, though, he slumped from that point and finished at .612. It’s as though extended exposure to hitting coach Andy Haines has toxic effects. Rodriguez played very well defensively. He threw out 30% of base stealers, more than double the rate of Austin Hedges or Jason Delay. Statcast and the metrics at FanGraphs both rated him above average defensively overall. He showed above-average speed and, according to FG, had positive value on the bases. Rodriguez played only eight games at first for Indy and two innings for the Pirates, and didn’t play any other position.
Rodriguez most likely would have been the Pirates’ principal catcher in 2024, but he suffered an elbow injury in winter ball and had surgery to repair a torn UCL and flexor tendon. He wasn’t expected to appear at all in the majors in 2024, but he got into ten games with Altoona and Indianapolis at season’s end. He left the last one with an apparent arm injury, but the Pirates said it was fatigue and nothing structural.
Stats
Transactions
July 2, 2018: Signed by the New York Mets as an international free agent.
January 18, 2021: Traded by the New York Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-team trade; Hudson Head, Omar Cruz, David Bednar and Drake Fellows sent from the San Diego Padres to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Joey Lucchesi sent from the San Diego Padres to the New York Mets, and Joe Musgrove sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the San Diego Padres.
November 15, 2022: Contract purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates.