Endy Rodríguez’s Pirates future suddenly looks painfully uncertain

The Pittsburgh Pirates catching situation has been extremely tough this year. We saw Joey Bart's place discipline regress dramatically, before a lengthy IL stint ended with him being shipped to Atlanta. We've seen the continuation of Henry Davis's complete and utter inability to hit. But for a brief moment this season, Endy Rodriguez provided some hope.

That hope has been extinguished, at least for 2026. Rodriguez went on the IL on August 13 with left hip inflammation. Unfortunately, that inflammation was caused by a tear in his labrum, and the resulting surgery to fix the issue has ended his season.

It's a tough break for a kid who has had a lot of them throughout his career. Once a top prospect, coming in at No. 55 on MLB Pipeline's top 100 list in 2023, the switch-hitting backstop had all the makings of a future star. But just as he was trying to get his big league career off the ground, he tore his UCL while playing winter ball, costing him the 2024 season. His 2025 campaign was then cut short by another elbow issue, with the ulnar nerve in his right elbow being the culprit this time.

Throw in another IL stint earlier in 2026 due to a left glute strain, and it's hard not to throw the injury-prone label on the 26-year-old.

Pirates insider Alex Stumpf recalled just how long Pittsburgh had Rodriguez on its radar. According to him, the Pirates tried to acquire him from the New York Mets multiple times throughout 2020, fearing that once the Mets realized what they had in him, they'd never let him go. Now, Pittsburgh is looking at trying to figure out how he fits into its future.

Endy Rodriguez's durability woes have made catcher a Pirates' top offseason priority

Rodriguez had finally seemed to figure everything out this year. The frequent starts and stops had made it hard for him to get going, and he entered 2026 with just 264 plate appearances scattered over three years and a career .210/.276/.311 line.

When his opportunity finally came this year, he grabbed it tightly with both arms. Slashing .267/.373/.467 with seven homers, Rodriguez turned heads. The underlying metrics, a 92.4 miles per hour average exit velocity, 10.6% barrel rate, 46.8% hard-hit rate, and a 37.2% launch angle sweet spot percentage, proved that the slugging catcher was hitting the ball hard and at angles that do damage consistently.

Defense was a different story. The elbow injuries have nerfed Rodriguez's arm. He struggles at pitch blocking, and he's a roughly average pitch framer, at best.

But, in tandem with the defensively excellent Davis, it seemed as if the pair could work together relatively well. This latest injury changes things. The evidence says that counting on Rodriguez to handle the lion's share of the catching duties is a fool's errand due to his durability concerns. If Davis is the man behind him, suddenly things look bleak.

So, when Ben Cherington is making his offseason shopping list, a catcher needs to be at the top of the list. Maybe the Pirates can give Rodriguez a shot as a backup, but a competent, starting-caliber veteran must be brought in. There should be a few good ones to choose from, too. Ryan Jeffers and Tyler Stephenson will be free agents. Carson Kelly has a mutual option with the Cubs, which could put him on the market, too.

Whatever the case may be, the Pirates can't go into 2027 pretending that Rodriguez is any kind of solution, and they should treat whatever they get from him as a nice, unexpected bonus.

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