Yariel Humberto Rodríguez Yordy (born March 10, 1997) is a Cuban 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

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

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). He has previously played in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

. He has also played in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, or SNB) is a domestic baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the National Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. For most ...

for Ganaderos de Camagüey and for the

Cuba national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team () represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is generally made up of players from the domestic Cuban national baseball system, though it has at times included professional players who defect ...

in international competitions.

Professional career

Chunichi Dragons

Rodríguez had previously been linked with the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

(NPB) before signing with NPB's

on a development deal on January 26, 2020. Rodríguez recorded a 3–4

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

and 4.12

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in 11 appearances in his first year with Chunichi. In 2021, Rodríguez made 12 appearances with Chunichi's main team, posting a 1–4 record and 3.65 ERA with 61 strikeouts in innings pitched. In 2022, he pitched in 56 games for the club, logging a 6–2 record and a 1.15 ERA with 60 strikeouts in innings of work. He was named the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

Most Valuable Setup Pitcher following the season. On March 28, 2023, Rodríguez unilaterally left the Dragons to seek a contract with a

(MLB) team. The Dragons have declared that the contract with Rodríguez is still valid. On that same day (March 28, 2023), the

Baseball Federation of Cuba The Baseball Federation of Cuba (, FCB) is the governing body of the sport of baseball in Cuba. History The Baseball Federation of Cuba was established in 1938. The professional Cuban League was dismantled in 1961, following the Cuban Revolutio ...

(FCB) stated that Rodriguez's contract "ensured up to $10 million in damages, and Rodríguez may not be hired by any other club or third party without the express authorization of the Federation." On October 5, Rodríguez was officially released by Chunichi, and it was reported that he would look to sign an MLB contract.

Toronto Blue Jays

On February 9, 2024, Rodríguez signed a five-year, $32 million contract with the

. He was optioned to the Triple–A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

to begin the 2024 season. On April 13, Rodríguez was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.

Pitching style

As a reliever, Rodríguez throws a fastball topping out at and a slider as his two primary pitches.

International career

Rodriguez was part of the

at the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament. He started the first game of the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

for Cuba, striking out six and giving up one run in four innings against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

References

External links

NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Yariel 1997 births Living people Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chunichi Dragons players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Japan Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba 21st-century Cuban sportsmen Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Camagüey Baseball players from Camagüey Province Toronto Blue Jays players 2023 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in baseball