Nivaldo Apolinar Rodríguez (born April 16, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

CTBC Brothers The CTBC Brothers () or simply Brothers are a professional baseball team in Taiwan. The team was originally established as an amateur team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball Lea ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL). He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, and in the CPBL for the

Fubon Guardians The Fubon Guardians () are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. The team is owned by Fubon Financial Holding Co. and play their home games at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City. ...

Career

Houston Astros

Rodríguez signed with the

as an international free agent on June 13, 2016. He spent the 2016 season with the DSL Astros, going 1–0 with a 1.17 ERA over innings. He split the 2017 season between the DSL and the GCL Astros, going a combined 4–2 with a 2.05 ERA over 57 innings. he spent the 2018 season with the Tri City ValleyCats, going 4–1 with a 2.91 ERA over innings. He split the 2019 season between the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

and the

Fayetteville Woodpeckers The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

, going a combined 6–6 with a 2.40 ERA over 105 innings. On November 20, 2019, the Astros added Rodríguez to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He made his MLB debut on July 28, 2020, against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. On July 31, 2021, Rodríguez was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Astros to make room on the active roster for Jake Meyers.

Detroit Tigers

On August 2, 2021, Rodríguez was claimed off of waivers by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

. Rodríguez posted a 4.93 ERA in 13 appearances for Toledo. He was outrighted off of the 40-man roster following the season on November 19, 2021. He was assigned to the Triple-A

to begin the 2022 season. He appeared in 19 games (15 starts), struggling to a 3-8 record and 6.92 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched. He was released on August 4, 2022.

Sioux City Explorers

On August 14, 2022, Rodríguez signed with the

Sioux City Explorers The Sioux City Explorers are a professional baseball team based in Sioux City, Iowa, in the United States. The Explorers are inaugural members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseba ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor ...

. He made five starts for the team down the stretch, recording a 3-1 record and 1.50 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 30 innings of work.

Sultanes de Monterrey

On February 20, 2023, Rodríguez signed with the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey (English: Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball club in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Monterrey, Mexico. Established in 1939 as Carta Blanca, the Sultanes have won ten LMB titles, most recently in 2018. Fro ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. In 17 games for Monterrey, he registered a 5–5 record and 2.76 ERA with 84 strikeouts across innings pitched.

Fubon Guardians

On January 15, 2024, Rodríguez signed with the

of the

(CPBL) in Taiwan. In 26 starts for the Guardians, he compiled a 10-4 record and 2.16 ERA with 156 strikeouts across 154 innings pitched. Rodríguez became a free agent following the season.

CTBC Brothers

On March 5, 2025, Rodríguez signed with the

of the CPBL.

International career

Rodríguez was selected for the

Venezuela national baseball team The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Venezuela'' or ''Selección de Venezuela)'' is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked third in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, b ...

at the

2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup The 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup, officially II U-23 Baseball World Cup, is the second edition of the U-23 Baseball World Cup tournament, third since the tournament's inception in 2014 as the 21U Baseball World Cup. The tournament was held at Edg ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Nivaldo 1997 births Living people Dominican Summer League Astros players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Fubon Guardians players Gulf Coast Astros players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Baseball players from Carabobo Quad Cities River Bandits players Sugar Land Skeeters players Sultanes de Monterrey players Tri-City ValleyCats players Venezuela national baseball team players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Puerto Rico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Criollos de Caguas players Baseball players at the 2023 Pan American Games CTBC Brothers players