Ex-Cardinals Minor Leaguer Hoping To Make Improbable MLB Return With Yankees

It's possible former St. Louis Cardinals four-time Gold Glove defender Paul Goldschmidt won't be the only former Redbird to play for the New York Yankees this upcoming season.

Following the Yankees recent wave of injuries, a former Cardinals minor league pitcher is hoping to earn his way onto the 27-time World Series champions' roster as he fights for another chance to prove himself as a big leaguer.

After years of recurrent injury list stints, poor outings and failing to hold a position on a big-league roster, a former St. Louis minor leaguer is fighting for a spot in the Yankees' Opening Day bullpen.

"Wilking Rodríguez, who had made his Major League Baseball debut three nights earlier with a perfect inning against the Cardinals (Jun. 3, 2014), allowed the Yanks two base runners, but no runs," New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote Sunday. "And that was it. Not for the game. But for Rodriguez’s MLB career. Until now, perhaps. Rodríguez is the long shot from long ago showing the kind of high-octane stuff that has Yankee officials saying he is on the short list to make the Opening Day roster even before his shutout seventh inning Sunday against the Pirates. The major leagues is the Island of Ithaca and Rodríguez a baseball Odysseus."

Rodríguez pitched in the Cardinals farm system the last two seasons for Triple-A Memphis and Single-A Palm Beach but due to injuries, he was released in Sept. 2024. The Venezuela native logged eight earned-runs on 13 hits, 23 strikeouts and 13 walks in 17 1/3 innings pitched for St. Louis' minor league affiliates.

"If he does and appears in a game, Rodríguez would push into the top 10 for the longest stint between MLB appearances," Sherman continued. "Opening Day would be 3,947 days and counting since Rodríguez last played in the majors. The current No. 10 is the 3,922-day gap of Clyde Sukeforth, renowned in his post-playing career for being the scout Branch Rickey assigned to Jackie Robinson before the Dodgers signed him (thanks to Lee Sinins of MLB Network Research)."

The 35-year-old has endured four shoulder operations in his throwing arm but is reportedly still capable of reaching 98-99 MPH fastballs, which has baffled and intrigued the Yankees coaching staff this spring.

If Rodríguez avoids injury this year, he could significantly help boost the Yankees bullpen. Considering how injury prone the aging veteran has been throughout his career, the Cardinals shouldn't be blamed for giving up on the former Kansas City Royals reliever, even if he returns to MLB this season.

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