Pirates Took Cautious Approach With Former Top Prospect
The recovery process wasn't necessarily a smooth one for former Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Endy Rodríguez.
Rodríguez was working his way back from a UCL injury he suffered in Winter Ball last year that required surgery and forced him to miss nearly all of the 2024 season. The switch-hitting catcher appeared in 10 games in the minor leagues, but he was shut down because of an arm injury that led to him being replaced mid-game and he didn't play for the rest of the season.
While Rodríguez being forced to exit a game early is enough to cause Pirates fans to collectively hold their breath, manager Derek Shelton said his team was erring on the side of precaution and that the 24-year-old catcher should be good to go when Spring Training begins in 2025.
"He's doing well," Shelton said at the Winter Meetings. "I think the fact we got him in games last year was really important. We shut him down out of an abundance of caution. We didn't want to push it over the last two weeks. [I] expect in spring training you'll be fully healthy to go."
In his 10 games across Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, Rodríguez batted .256/.293/.385 with 1 home run and 5 RBIs.
Rodríguez got a taste of the big leagues in 2023, batting .220/.284/.328 with 3 home runs and 13 RBIs. Of his 41 hits, the switch-hitting catcher had 7 doubles and 2 triples.
Prior to reaching the big leagues, Rodríguez worked his way up to becoming the Pirates' top prospect by Baseball America and No. 35 in baseball by MLB Pipeline because of his offensive prowess. In his final full season in the Minor Leagues, Rodríguez batted .323/.407/.590 with 25 home runs and 95 RBIs from High-A Greensboro to Triple-A Indianapolis.
The emergence of Joey Bart last season crowds things behind the plate but if Rodríguez can stay healthy and become the hitter he was when he worked his way up to becoming one of the top prospects in baseball, Pittsburgh could boast one of the top tandems of young catchers next season.
