When the Binghamton Rumble Ponies came to Somerset for a week of games against the Patriots, they brought a 68-32 record and one of Minor League Baseball’s best rosters with them. With one of baseball’s top pitching prospects in Jonah Tong and a lineup featuring Jett Williams, Carson Benge, and Ryan Clifford, Binghamton was a tough matchup for any Double-A pitcher. Despite some recent struggles, they went into Somerset with Tong on the mound and a lineup ready to mash. Instead, they came out on the wrong
end of a marquee pitching matchup.
Tong went up against Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, a 21-year-old right-hander in the midst of a breakout season with the Yankees organization. Since being promoted to Somerset, Rodriguez-Cruz had recorded quality starts in all three of his appearances and was fresh off of tossing six shutout innings in his last start. The matchup against Tong did not disappoint. Neither pitcher allowed a run, and both struck out eight batters while walking two. The difference in the matchup was longevity, and Rodriguez-Cruz won that battle by lasting seven innings to Tong’s five. The Patriots broke the score open in the bottom of the seventh, earning Rodriguez-Cruz the victory in a 3-2 win.
It was a dominant performance from the young starter against a tough lineup, and he backed it up by doing the exact same thing again on Sunday. Rodriguez-Cruz faced off against Tong for the second time in a week, and this time he threw six more shutout innings with seven strikeouts. In total, he pitched 13 innings against Binghamton with 15 strikeouts, 5 walks, 5 hits, and not a single run allowed. It was a rude sendoff for Tong, Williams, Benge, and Clifford, who were all promoted to Triple-A immediately following the series, but it was exactly what the Yankees wanted to see from a prospect who’s quickly becoming one of the most promising young starters in the organization.
Rodriguez-Cruz spent most of this season at High-A with the Renegades, where he was part of a rotation that also included Carlos Lagrange and 2024 draft picks Ben Hess and Bryce Cunningham. The foursome dominated the first couple months of the season and all saw their prospect stock rise significantly at the same time. Cunningham has been on the IL for over two months now, but the other three pitchers have all been promoted to Double-A where they continue to develop and look like future members of a big-league rotation.
The rise of these pitchers and the ascent of Cam Schlittler into the Yankees’ rotation has made it quite the year for the organization’s pitching development, and arguably Rodriguez-Cruz has been the most promising arm in a crop of standout pitchers. He recorded a 2.26 ERA in 83 innings in High-A with a 29% strikeout rate, and has been even better since the promotion to Double-A with a 1.41 ERA in 32 innings. He’s not missing quite as many bats in Somerset with a 24.4% strikeout rate, but he’s also seen his walk rate go from 10.9% to 6.5%. In total, Rodriguez-Cruz has a 2.03 ERA on the season in a career-high 115.2 innings.
Rodriguez-Cruz was acquired in a trade with the Red Sox last offseason for catcher Carlos Narvaez. Anytime the Yankees trade with their biggest rival it creates commotion among the two fanbases, and a hot start to the season for the 26-year-old Narvaez put an added layer of pressure on Rodriguez-Cruz to justify his acquisition. However, recent months have made the victory laps in Boston seem a bit premature. Narvaez has cooled down significantly and Rodriguez-Cruz has caught fire during that same stretch, earning a much-deserved promotion. Now he’s gone three consecutive starts without allowing a run, and could even be knocking on the door of Triple-A Scranton for a brief stint at the highest level of the minors before the season ends.
The recent update to MLB Pipeline’s prospect rankings placed Rodriguez-Cruz at #6 within the Yankees organization, but he’s still outside the overall Top 100. Here’s what they wrote about his arsenal: “Rodriguez’s fastball sat at 91-95 mph in 2023 before jumping to 93-96 and topping out at 98 last season, featuring some arm-side run and carry. His slider got stronger as well, parking in the mid-80s with improved depth and becoming his best secondary offering. His upper-70s curveball with similar shape and upper-80s splitter/changeup give him a pair of average pitches to round out his repertoire.” He doesn’t have the most electric stuff in the organization, but he’s made noticeable strides in each of his professional seasons and at age 21 will continue to develop physically and mentally on the mound. Taking into account his 6-foot-3 frame and ability to work deep into games, Rodriguez-Cruz checks a lot of boxes for a future big-league starter.
What’s next for the young right-hander? Rodriguez-Cruz again occupies a spot in the same rotation as Lagrange and the recently promoted Hess, but now it’s at a whole new level. 15 departures across various levels of the organization required a lot of movement among the remaining prospects, and the fact that the Yankees held onto their top prospects at such an active trade deadline is a strong indication of how they feel about these young players. The next step is to see if they keep Rodriguez-Cruz at Double-A for the rest of the season, or if they decide to push him even further and send him to Scranton for his toughest challenge yet.
