Long admirers of junior college arms, the Brewers selected Rodriguez out of Florida SouthWestern State College in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft, and he’s been one of the system’s most reliable arms since. The right-hander is a two-time honoree as Milwaukee’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year and most recently shared the honor with Robert Gasser in 2023 after posting a 2.88 ERA with 158 strikeouts in 128 1/3 innings between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville. He also got experience on a big stage by pitching for Nicaragua against Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in March, striking out Javier Báez and Christian Vázquez in the process.
Rodriguez takes pride in utilizing a spectrum of pitches spanning a wide range of velocities to keep hitters off balance. He throws a four-seamer and a two-seamer and has leaned more on the latter the deeper he’s gotten in his career, despite generally sitting around just 90-93 mph. He’s fiddled with the hold on his changeup and landed on a looser grip that helped the 83-85 mph offering drop and run impressively well last year, earning his highest whiff rate. His 78-82 mph slider gives a breaking look the other way and can earn chase against righties, and he can plop in a mid-70s curveball for another change of pace.
The 6-foot hurler added an upper-80s cutter after noticing that his four-seamer had natural cut anyway, giving batters one more thing to think about. After his walk rate spiked early in ’23, Rodriguez pitched more out of the stretch to regain his control. His lack of velocity may not make him pop, but Rodriguez’s kitchen-sink approach helped him reach The Show for the first time this summer.
The Brewers seem to love a good junior college arm, and they found one in the Nicaragua native after he fanned 62 in 47 innings at Florida SouthWestern State College in 2021. Milwaukee grabbed Rodriguez in the sixth round that July and signed him for just below slot at $250,000. One year later, he became the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year after he led qualified Milwaukee affiliate-ball Minor Leaguers in WHIP (1.06), opponents' average (.195), strikeout rate (30.1 percent) and FIP (3.54) over 107 2/3 innings at Single-A and High-A.
The 6-foot right-hander makes up for his lack of projectability with solid present stuff. He’s added some velocity in the pros and now sits in the low 90s -- touching 95 -- with good ride up in the zone. His mid-80s changeup draws the strongest reviews with impressive fade, and that helped him keep lefties to a .551 OPS in 2022 (compared to the .616 sported by righties). A mid-80s slider dives away from same-side batters with some depth, and even if it ends up being just an average offering in the end, it gives him a more well-rounded arsenal. Once just used for show, his curveball has taken a nice step forward and looks like a potential above-average pitch in 2023.
Rodriguez transitioned from the Carolina bullpen to its rotation and stuck there because of how well he locates his pitches. A little extra velo would go a long way toward kicking up his ceiling to a middle-of-the-rotation type, but right now, there are still enough pieces to make him a serviceable starter in the bigs.
Born in Nicaragua, Rodriguez (who shares a name with a ranked Brewers outfield prospect) spent a year at Florida Southwestern State Junior College, where he dominated with a 2.11 ERA, 62 strikeouts and only 12 walks in 47 innings. That performance was enough for Milwaukee to come calling in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft, and Rodriguez signed for just under slot at $250,000. He dominated in his first turn at Single-A Carolina this season, fanning 29.3 of his batters faced over 71 1/3 innings, and was promoted to High-A Wisconsin in early August.
Listed at 6 feet, 180 pounds, Rodriguez may not be super projectable, but his current stuff is certainly solid. His fastball touches the mid-90s with good riding life up in the zone. A mid-80s changeup might be his most dominant pitch now because of its nice fade, and it’s helped him produce reverse splits so far in 2022 (lefties have hit just .189 against him). Another mid-80s slider can flash average and looked the better pitch out of college, but without stellar depth, it’s more likely a below-average offering in time.
The Brewers used Rodriguez out of the Carolina bullpen early, but he’s thrown enough strikes to continue down the path as a starter. He would look even better in the role, if he could squeeze out just a little more velocity to make the separation on the changeup stand out more, but as it stands, those two pitches could be enough to get him into the Majors in any spot.
How this works: Every pitch is affected by the forces of gravity,
which means that every pitch drops on its way from the mound to the plate.
These numbers are reported with gravity, which makes them larger and
different than other pitch movement numbers you may have seen. Since gravity
requires time, and slower pitches aren’t ‘better’ just because they have
more time to move, the movement of a pitch is compared to ‘average’ movement
by comparing it to other MLB pitch types within +/- 2 MPH and from within
+/- 0.5 feet of extension and release.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
Team
Avg HR Trot
Actual HR
xHR
HR-xHR
Doubters
Mostly Gone
No Doubters
No Doubter %
2024
23.0
3
2.6
0
1
2
1
33.3
Player
23.0
3
2.6
0
1
2
1
33.3
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2024
3
1
3
4
3
3
3
2
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
2
2
2
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
1
3
3
3
Player
3
1
3
4
3
3
3
2
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
2
2
2
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
1
3
3
3
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift:
three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of
their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about
how positioning is defined here
MIL 
