Ricardo José Rodríguez (born August 31, 1992) 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, ...

who is a free agent. 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 Texas Rangers.

Professional career

Texas Rangers

Rodríguez signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent on November 20, 2010. He made his professional debut in 2011 for the DSL Rangers, posting a 4–1 record with a 4.05 ERA in 20 innings. He repeated with the DSL Rangers in 2012, posting a 3–3 record with a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings. Rodríguez split the 2013 season between the DSL Rangers, the AZL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, and the Spokane Indians of the Low–A

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

; posting a combined 0–4 record with a 3.09 ERA in 32 innings between the three levels. In 2014, he spent the season with the Hickory Crawdads of the Single–A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, going 5–5 with a 3.07 ERA in innings (29 games - 12 starts). Rodríguez appeared in five games for the Hickory and in two games for the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, before he underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery in 2015. The surgery also caused him to miss the entire 2016 season rehabilitating. He began the 2017 season with the Down East Wood Ducks of the High–A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

and was later promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double–A Texas League. In 35 combined games, he posted a 5–1 record with a 1.34 ERA and 61 strikeouts over 47 innings. The Rangers promoted Rodríguez to the major leagues on August 8, 2017, becoming the first Wood Duck to be promoted to the major leagues. Rodriguez made his debut on August 14, 2017, in a game against 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 ...

, pitching one scoreless inning. He recorded his first career strikeout against Tigers batter James McCann and struck out the next batter, Alex Presley, as well. He ended the 2017 season after posting a 0–1 record with a 6.23 ERA over 13 innings in 16 games for Texas. Rodríguez started the 2018 season on the 60–day disabled list with right biceps tendinitis and elbow inflammation. He rehabbed with Frisco and Round Rock before being activated off the DL and optioned to Round Rock. Between the two levels, he posted a combined 1–2 record with a 2.51 ERA and 28 strikeouts over innings. He recorded a 0–0 record with a 4.05 ERA in major league innings in 2018. On November 30, 2018, Rodríguez was non-tendered by the Rangers and was granted free agency. Rodríguez was re-signed to a minor-league contract on February 5, 2019. It was also announced that Rodríguez had undergone shoulder surgery in December 2018, which caused him to miss the entire 2019 season.

Toros de Tijuana

On April 18, 2023, Rodríguez signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. In 37 relief outings for the Toros, he posted a 2.61 ERA with 38 strikeouts across 38 innings pitched. Rodríguez was released by Tijuana on March 19, 2024. On May 16, 2024, Rodríguez re–signed with Tijuana. In 11 relief appearances, he posted a 3.27 ERA with four strikeouts across 11 innings pitched.

El Águila de Veracruz

On July 5, 2024, Rodríguez was traded to El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. In 7 relief appearances, he gave up only five hits and no earned runs across innings. Rodríguez was released by Veracruz on January 6, 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Ricardo 1992 births Living people Arizona League Rangers players Dominican Summer League Rangers players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Down East Wood Ducks players Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Baseball players from Maracay Round Rock Express players Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players Toros de Tijuana players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States