It is time for us to talk about Johnathan Rodriguez’s 2025 season. Let us begin.
I had to watch these two clips, now, so do you (sorry about the ads):
The first clip shows Johnathan Rodriguez failing to reach a Riley Greene double in the 7th of game 1 of the AL Wildcard series vs. the Tigers. Greene’s expected batting average on that ball was .300, the second lowest of any ball that ended up a hit in the game (only Angel Martinez’s infield single was lower). This was not an easy play. But, it was a play that a right
fielder who doesn’t look like he is running in molasses with a small wombat attached to his back can make.
The second clip shows that even if Johnathan Rodriguez does plod his way over to a ball, he can still find a way to screw it up royally. And, mind you, again, this is a playoff game. Against Tarik Skubal.
So, allow me to present the first piece of information we learned about Johnathan Rodriguez in 2025: HE IS NOT A RIGHT FIELDER. HE SHOULD NOT WEAR AN OUTFIELD GLOVE EVER AGAIN. If you averaged the -5 Defensive Runs Saved and -4 Outs Above Average that Rodriguez put up in right-field in 174 innings out to more like 70 full-games played (reasonable for a platoon outfielder/bench bat against LHP), he would project for -EIGHTEEN Defensive Runs Saved and FOURTEEN Outs Above Average. The worst defensive right fielder in baseball was Nick Castellanos. He put up -12 DRS and -12 OAA in twice as many innings as what I am projecting for Rodriguez above. He is flatly unplayable in right field and I am going to picked Progressive Field if they put him there again. Playing Rodriguez in right field with Skubal on the mound is by far the worst managerial decision that Stephen Vogt has ever made and I only console myself at night by saying that he had to have been told to do that by Chris Antonetti who maybe didn’t have time to see how much Rodriguez moves like Roz from Monster’s Inc. when he’s out there.
When Jhonkensy Noel put up a 4 wRC+ to begin the season, the team sensibly decided to see if Rodriguez could offer anything more at the plate. He did; he put up a 41 wRC+. So, less than half of an average player (100 wRC+). However, the team brought Rodriguez back for the end of September after David Fry was sadly hit in the face with a Skubal fastball, and he actually helped the team secure the division title after their historic comeback. In three games, he put up a 396 wRC+ and secured huge hits against the Rangers as the Guardians won the division. In his short major league career, Rodriguez has a 105 wRC+ against LHP and -6 wRC+ against RHP.
I think there is legitimate potential that Rodriguez – given enough reps – could be a lefty-masher, a guy who could put up 120-130 wRC+ against southpaws. Looking at his minor league stats, he chases and whiffs too much, but not at an unsustainable level given that he can take a walk and hit the ball hard. He has a 143 wRC+ with a 24.3/12.1 K/BB% over the past two years in the minors, after all. But, it is simply untenable to carry this player on the Guardians’ roster when he cannot be trusted to field a position. I wonder if the team might consider having Rodriguez try first base, but his (absence of any?) reflexes do not look playable to me there either. So, he is probably a short-side of the platoon DH. The Guardians are not the kind of player who can carry that type of player. They should look for external upgrades, but, if they can’t find one, they should give Juan Brito, Noel and Fry the 1B/RF/bench right-handed hitter roster spots over Rodriguez.
