Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Endy Rodriguez Could Climb Rankings

Endy Rodriguez is one of the Pittsburgh Pirates top catching prospects. But could he eventually reach top 100 prospect status?

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system has a ton of noteworthy prospects. Nick Gonzales, Quinn Priester, Liover Peguero, Henry Davis, Roansy Contreras, and Oneil Cruz are probably their highest ranking minor leaguers. But as some of their younger prospects get more experience and move up throughout the minors, they could also move up the rankings.

Last offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates traded right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres for five players. One of the more notable names they got back was Endy Rodriguez, who came from the New York Mets. The Mets ended up being a third team involved in the Musgrove deal. The Pirates got Hudson Head, David Bednar, Omar Cruz, and Drake Fellows. The Mets got Joey Lucchesi, and the Mets would then send Rodriguez to the Pirates.

Rodriguez had a phenomenal start to his professional career. Throughout his first two years, Rodriguez posted a strong .377 wOBA, 13.2% walk rate, and 17.4% strikeout rate in 265 trips to the plate.

He didn’t show much pop in his first season in 2018, but over half of his hits went for extra bases in 2019. He collected 30 total with 14 doubles, 2 home runs, and a triple.

After being acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates the switch-hitter was assigned to Low-A Bradenton where he absolutely mashed. In 434 plate appearances Rodriguez hit for a .295/.380/.512 slash line with a .410 wOBA, and 140 wRC+. Rodriguez continued to show fantastic plate discipline. He walked 11.5% of the time while only striking out in 17.7% of his 434 plate appearances. To add on, he showed excellent pop. He blasted 15 long balls while having a .215 isolated slugging percentage.

Rodriguez was not just one of the best performing minor leaguers in the Pirate farm system, but overall one of the best hitters at Low-A. He was 6th in wRC+, 5th in wOBA, 10th in OPS, and was one of 10 qualified A-Ball hitters to have a 10%+ walk rate and sub-20% strikeout rate. All of this earned him MVP honors in his division.

Per FanGraphs’s measurements, both his hit and fielding tool are projected to be 60-grade weapons. He also has an average arm for a backstop. His power grades may seem a bit lacking, as he only has 40-projected game power and 45-projected raw power. However as we’ve seen, he has shown he can hit for some pop. He’s also quite athletic for a catcher, and has shown the ability to play multiple positions. Right now, he’s spent most of his time behind the dish, but has a handful of innings played at first base and the corner outfield spots.

Rodriguez ended the season as the team’s 25th best prospect. He only has a 40+ FV grade currently by FanGraphs. I do want to point out that FanGraphs FV grades are based on fWAR, and they are far from bullish with their grades. 50-FV is considered a 2.0-2.5 fWAR player (average), but they only have 29 players projected to ever average out above that in their 2021-mid-season rankings. I’m not going to claim I’m an expert prospect evaluator, but I just don’t see only 29 total prospects being better than 2.0-2.5 fWAR-a-year players.

Regardless, 45-45+ FV would put him on top-100 watch. This would put him in the same area as guys who had 1st round talent like Brennan Malone, Hudson Head, and Bubba Chandler. Ji-Hwan Bae also is considered a prospect in this tier. Right now, I don’t see why Rodriguez wouldn’t at least be bumped up to a 45-45+ FV grade.

So to answer the question, can Rodriguez reach top-100 status? I don’t think he ends up that high to start the season. But he’s definitely a guy that should be on the radar. He’s one of the better catching prospects out there. He has a good hit tool, has displayed solid fielding behind the dish, an ability to play more than just catcher, plus athleticism, and the only area he’s really lacking in is power. However, there’s still room for him to grow into more pop. If he has a good start at either High-A or Double-A (whichever they decide to start him out at in 2022), then he might crack the mid-season rankings.