Within the next hour or so, the San Francisco Giants will likely add a few prospects in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft … and maybe even one in the Major League phase. If they do, those players
will join the many, many prospects vying for a spot on the 2026 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List, in which we’ll rank the top 44 prospects in the Giants organization.
The latest chapter brought us a name who we will almost certainly see make a Major League debut in the coming season: it’s catcher Jesús Rodríguez, who has been voted as the No. 16 prospect in the system in his CPL debut.
Rodríguez, who hits right-handed, came to the Giants in July’s trade for Camilo Doval, which looks a whole lot better today than it did at the time. When the Giants acquired the 23-year old Venezuelan, they made something interesting crystal clear: they viewed him as a catcher. That was notable given that Rodríguez had only recently started catching, after being developed primarily as a third baseman, and spending time in the Minors at first base, second base, and left field.
While it remains to be seen how much he can develop behind the dish, it’s easy to see why the Giants want him there: he has one hell of a bat for a catcher. All Rodríguez has done at every level is hit, hit, and hit some more, despite being young for the level at every stop he’s made.
Giants fans didn’t fully get to see what Rodríguez was capable of in his short stint with AAA Sacramento, as his numbers took a dip (though they were still quite good), but that’s understandable: not only do players often see their performance take a hit when they’re traded, but Rodríguez was working through a shoulder injury.
But between Sacramento and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Rodríguez put on quite a show in AAA this year, slashing .319/.406/.421 for an .826 OPS and a 125 wRC+. As the numbers would suggest, Rodríguez is a contact maven: his batting average was 12th out of the 297 AAA hitters with at least 250 plate appearances this year, and the bulk of the names above him are many, many years older with ample AAA (and in many cases, MLB) experience. His strikeout rate of 13.5% was 20th out of that group, with the same disclaimer about the 19 names ahead of him. He also proved very capable of drawing walks, with a nice 12.0% rate … and with the River Cats, he had more walks than strikeouts.
The flip side is there’s not a lot of power for Rodríguez. He hit just seven home runs in 535 plate appearances in AAA, and that included an inside-the-parker. His batted ball data suggests that there’s a little more power to be utilized, but not a ton: in AAA he was in the 48th percentile in average exit velocity, and the 67th percentile in maximum exit velocity.
That lack of power would make it harder for Rodríguez to survive if he can’t catch and has to return to putting a normal glove on his arm … though earlier this year, Fangraphs described him as having the potential to be above-average defensively at third base. But the contact skills are strong enough that it’s easy to see Rodríguez thriving in the Majors if he can hold it down at catcher.
The Giants certainly seem to think so, and it was telling that they brought Rodríguez (who is on the 40-man roster) to the ballpark on the taxi squad for the final series of the season, to get him comfortable with the routine of a Major League ballplayer. That certainly signaled that they’re strongly considering Rodríguez to make the Opening Day roster, and non-tendering Andrew Knizner added fuel to that fire. I’d still expect the Giants to sign a veteran catcher — likely on a Minor League deal — for a camp battle, but don’t be surprised if Rodríguez is the man behind Patrick Bailey when the first game of the season rolls around.
Now let’s add to the list, and we’ve got some new names to choose from! As a reminder, voting is now held in the comment section, so head down there and click the “rec” button on the name you want to cast your vote for.
The list so far
- Bryce Eldridge — 1B
- Josuar González — SS
- Jhonny Level — SS
- Bo Davidson — CF
- Dakota Jordan — CF
- Luis Hernandez — SS
- Gavin Kilen — SS
- Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
- Blade Tidwell — RHP
- Keyner Martinez — RHP
- Jacob Bresnahan — LHP
- Trevor McDonald — RHP
- Argenis Cayama — RHP
- Luis De La Torre — LHP
- Trevor Cohen — OF
- Jesús Rodríguez — C
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
No. 17 prospect nominees
Josh Bostick — 24.1-year old RHP — 3.71 ERA/4.59 FIP in High-A (119 IP)
Drew Cavanaugh — 23.10-year old C — .511 OPS/34 wRC+ in AAA (53 PA); .677 OPS/116 wRC+ in AA (56 PA); .904 OPS/149 wRC+ in High-A (162 PA); 1.006 OPS/170 wRC+ in Low-A (131 PA)
Carlos Gutierrez — 21.3-year old OF — .896 OPS/150 wRC+ in Low-A (293 PA)
Parks Harber — 24.2-year old 3B — .969 OPS/174 wRC+ in High-A (260 PA); .972 OPS/169 wRC+ in Low-A (83 PA)
Trent Harris — 26.10-year old RHP — 5.44 ERA/4.69 FIP in AAA (41.1 IP); 1.69 ERA/1.73 FIP in AA (16 IP)
Gerelmi Maldonado — 21.11-year old RHP — 3.97 ERA/4.65 FIP in Low-A (59 IP)
Lorenzo Meola — 21.11-year old SS/2B — .784 OPS/109 wRC+ in Low-A (70 PA)
Joe Whitman — 24.2-year old LHP — 5.29 ERA/3.61 FIP in AA (117.1 IP)
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2025 season.
