Guardians Power-Hitting Prospect Could Have Key Role In 2025

Johnathan Rodriguez may be a critical piece to the Cleveland Guardians' 2025 roster.

Mar 2, 2024; Goodyear, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez (67) bats against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have been one of the more active teams during the offseason. They traded Andres Gimenez and Josh Naylor, signed free agent first baseman Carlos Santana, and re-signed Shane Bieber.

However, despite all this activity, the team still needs to address its outfield depth, which desperately needs more offensive production.

Over the past few months, Chris Antonetti has mentioned that they must be mindful of bringing in players outside the organization because doing so could affect current development and playing time.

Perhaps the front office has not brought in any free-agent outfielders because it believes in its group at the major league level and its reinforcements in the minors.

One player who could factor into this is Cleveland's 12th-ranked prospect, Johnathan Rodriguez.

Rodriguez did make his major league debut at the beginning of the 2024 season, but it was underwhelming, to say the least. J-Rod hit just .129/.325/.161 with a strikeout rate of 35 percent in 40 plate appearances.

However, this was an extremely small sample size, and Rodriguez's production at Triple-A proves he deserves another major league opportunity at some point.

May 21, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez (30) makes a catch in the first inning against the New York Mets at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

J-Rod finished his minor league season with a .301/.390/.540 slash line, .930 OPS, and a 160 wRC+. These stats include 18 doubles, 29 home runs, and 94 RBI.

With how Cleveland's major league roster looks, it would likely take a monster spring training for Rodriguez to make the Guardians' Opening Day roster out of the gate.

Jhonkensy Noel will likely get the first nod as the Guardians right-handed power-hitting outfielder, but that doesn't mean Rodriguez won't get an opportunity.

Cleveland will be searching for another right-handed bat to fill the void left by David Fry's injury, and this could be where Rodriguez finds his way onto the major league roster.

There's no denying that Rodriguez has tremendous natural power and deserves another chance to show his value to a major league roster, and there's a good chance that he could come with the Guardians in 2025.