Ricardo "Rick" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball coach and former professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He pitched in parts of four seasons in the major leagues between and . He was the

bullpen coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

for the Oakland Athletics until he was replaced by Darren Bush, former manager of the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

on October 26, 2012. On November 23, 2015 he was named as the Pitching Coach for the Nashville Sounds.

Playing career

Rodriguez was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round of the

1981 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players *Darrin Jackson, 2nd round, 28th overall by the Chicago Cubs *Mike Gallego, 2nd round, 33 ...

out of the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, where he had played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the Highlanders. Previous to Riverside, he went to

Castro Valley High School Castro Valley High School is located in the unincorporated suburban community of Castro Valley, California, United States. It is a State school#United States high school for grades 9 to 12. Named a National Exemplary School in 1984–85 and 1988� ...

and

Chabot College Chabot College (Chabot or CC) is a public community college in Hayward, California. It is part of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. History Chabot College was the first college opened by the Chabot- Las Positas Community Col ...

. He spent the next five seasons working his way up through their farm system, reaching the majors for the first time in 1986. He pitched parts of that season and for the A's, but was released in December 1987. In January , Rodriguez was signed by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, pitching one season in their organization with a brief stint in the majors. He became a free agent after the season, then spent a year in the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

organization before spending his final season with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 1990.

Coaching career

In , Rodriguez returned to the Oakland Athletics organization as a minor league pitching coach. He filled that position with the

Modesto A's Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

in 1999, then in he was promoted to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. He has been their pitching coach in every season since, with the exception of , when he spent the season back at Modesto as the team's field manager. For the season, Rodriguez will serve as the bullpen coach for the Oakland Athletics. Rodriguez was also the bullpen coach for the season. On October 26, 2012, he was replaced by Darren Bush.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Rick 1960 births Living people Albany-Colonie A's players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from California Cleveland Indians players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Huntsville Stars players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Modesto A's players Oakland Athletics players Phoenix Firebirds players San Francisco Giants players Tacoma Tigers players UC Riverside Highlanders baseball players Vancouver Canadians players