Rodriguez at home all around diamond

Primarily a catcher, prospect has learned how to play second on fly

At the beginning of this season, the Pirates had to find a way to get Endy Rodriguez on the field in High-A Greensboro.

For the No. 7-ranked prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline, that may seem odd, but Rodriguez is primarily a catcher, and as 2022 began, he, Henry Davis and Abrahan Gutierrez made up a trio of well-regarded backstops on Greensboro’s roster.

As a result, Rodriguez started moving around the diamond. Entering Tuesday, he has started games at catcher, first base, left field and even played eight games at second base so far.

It’s an ask the Pirates have made of a bunch of players in the organization. Their stance: It benefits all parties if a player feels comfortable at multiple positions. That way, if there’s a logjam at a position in the future, they have more freedom to promote players based on merit, as opposed to only being able to promote players when there’s a positional opening.

That’s the theory, anyway. In this case, Davis, last year’s first overall pick in the MLB draft, had priority for repetitions behind the plate. He has since moved up to Class AA Altoona, so Rodriguez has had more opportunities to catch, but the latter has continued to play all over the field as the season has progressed.

“I love the opportunity of being able to play multiple positions,” Rodriguez said through translation by coaching and player development assistant Frederic Rioux. “Obviously, it’s been a little bit hard to learn the fundamentals of every position, but as of right now, I feel good and am grateful for the opportunity to play multiple positions and help the team win.”

When Rodriguez mentions the difficulty of learning some positional fundamentals, he’s talking about second base. Rodriguez was previously a farmhand for the New York Mets, joining the Pirates prior to the 2021 season as part of the deal that saw Joe Musgrove go to the San Diego Padres. With the Mets, Rodriguez had caught and played first, along with all three outfield positions.

Second base is completely new to him. Obviously along with the Greensboro coaching staff, Rodriguez says he has sought advice from teammates Francisco Acuna, Maikol Escotto and Dariel Lopez.

The learning curve has namely involved learning onfield positioning, though Rodriguez claims he’s continuing to make daily progress.

“The main thing is to maintain your energy and always be ready because at a position in the middle of the field like that, there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of movement, and there’s a lot of different spots on the field you need to be depending on where the ball is hit,” Rodriguez said. “But so far it’s been good, and I’ve been improving every day when I get to play there.”

Even if the change was a result of an overcrowded catcher position in Greensboro, Rodriguez fits the mold of a player who could benefit from playing multiple positions. After all, the Pirates’ future plan surely involves Davis becoming the starting catcher of the future. Nick Gonzales, the team’s No. 1 prospect on Pipeline, likely slots in as the second baseman of the future, too, but the Pirates will hope to keep Rodriguez’s bat on track wherever he goes. That could mean first base or the outfield or whatever other position is open.

And Rodriguez has kept up his end of the bargain at the plate this season. He is currently hitting .268 with an .814 OPS. He’s tied for second on the team with six homers, dwarfed only by the 17 bombs hit by Matt Gorski, who is now in Altoona. Rodriguez is third on the team in RBIs and doubles and fifth in OPS.

In May, Rodriguez has only heated up, too, hitting .299 with a .987 OPS. It’s a followup on a strong season with Low-A Bradenton last year.

“The experience has been good. I think I can play at this level,” Rodriguez said.