Son of Hall of Famer makes big league debut
Rodriguez has rough outing in Giants’ 11-4 loss.
Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez’s Hall of Fame career resulted in 14 All-Star nominations, the 1999 American League
M VP award and a 2003 World Series championship with the then-Florida Marlins.
The family legacy in major league baseball is continuing.
Rodriguez’s son, 25-yearold pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, made his major league debut for the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies when he came to the mound in relief of injured starter Jeff Samardzija.
It was a rocky debut. Over the course of 3⅓ innings, Rodriguez gave up four runs
(one earned) on five hits while striking out four. He was pulled from the game in the fifth inning after a line drive came back and hit him in the shin. He also recorded an RBI double to deep right field in the top of the fifth to give San Francisco its first run of the game. The Giants lost 11-4.
“I wanted to stay in,’’ Rodriguez said after the game, according to ESPN. “But after I threw a few warmup pitches, it felt like it wanted to cramp up to where I couldn’t push off
my back leg.’’
Rodriguez, a sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft by the Minnesota Twins, made the transition from outfielder to pitcher prior to the 2014 season. He was 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA with 53 strikeouts over 50⅓ innings for Triple-A Sacramento before the Giants purchased his contract.
He has a long way to go to live up to his dad’s legacy. “Pudge” Rodriguez played 21 years in the majors for the Texas Rangers (19912002; 2009), Florida Marlins (2003), Detroit Tigers (2004-2008), New York Yankees (2008), Houston Astros (2009) and Washington Nationals (2010-2011). He compiled a .296 career batting average with 2,844 hits, 311 home runs and 1,332 RBI. He won 13 Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slug- ger Awards.