This story was excerpted from Sonja Chen’s Dodgers Beat e-newsletter. To learn the total e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it often in your inbox.
On the conclusion of final season, righty reliever Jose Rodriguez was 23 years outdated and had but to pitch above Excessive-A. Now, nearing mid-June, Rodriguez is in Triple-A, a step away from the Majors.
As MLB Pipeline’s No. 27 Dodgers prospect, Rodriguez has flown below the radar some. His leads to the Minors definitely do not leap off the web page. However the Dodgers have clearly seen sufficient to warrant giving him a more in-depth look towards extra superior competitors.
Rodriguez has been a late bloomer since signing with the group as an beginner worldwide free agent out of Mexico in 2019, however his fast rise might make him a viable possibility for the Dodgers sooner moderately than later.
After the COVID-19 pandemic delayed his skilled debut till 2021, Rodriguez did not spend a full season in A-ball till ’24, which he cut up between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Excessive-A Nice Lakes. He was a non-roster invitee to Main League Spring Coaching for the primary time this season.
Rodriguez started the 12 months at Double-A Tulsa, then moved as much as Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis after simply eight appearances. He is mixed to submit an 8.64 ERA in 20 outings — which does not look fairly, even when taking into consideration the hitter-friendly tendencies of the Pacific Coast League.
One of many clear positives: Rodriguez has 41 strikeouts in 25 innings to go together with solely 13 walks. He has a 4.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his skilled profession, however he does get hit. A part of the explanation he is allowed so many runs this 12 months is that hitters are batting .291 towards him.
COMPLETE DODGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
If he is capable of work on that challenge, maybe Rodriguez could possibly be a weapon out of the Dodgers’ bullpen in some unspecified time in the future late within the season.
There are a number of names forward of Rodriguez on the depth chart. He is not on L.A.’s 40-man roster. However the Dodgers have endured sufficient pitcher accidents in recent times to know that large league alternatives come up in all kinds of the way. They are often created by efficiency and circumstance alike.
Rodriguez will in all probability want a mixture of each to earn a promotion to the Majors. He wants to point out he can reliably put higher-level hitters away whereas permitting much less harm, and he wants a gap within the Dodgers’ ‘pen, which is chock-full of expertise when at full power. But it surely has but to be at full power this 12 months.
It wasn’t way back that the Dodgers had been short-handed when it got here to high-leverage right-handed reduction choices. Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech had been activated from the IL over the weekend, restoring some power on that aspect of the ‘pen.
The Dodgers also needs to get Blake Treinen again in some unspecified time in the future, in addition to Brusdar Graterol within the closing month of the season. There could also be no must fast-track Rodriguez even additional if the Dodgers have a minimum of three of these 4 in fee by season’s finish.
These across the group have credited Rodriguez’s work ethic for permitting him to take the leaps he has up to now 12 months and alter. Ought to the necessity come up, that mentality ought to play simply as effectively on the large league stage.
