Hector Rodriguez Keeps Doing Everything He Can to Earn a Call-Up

About four years ago, around the trade deadline, the Reds traded outfielder Tyler Naquin to the New York Mets for Hector Rodriguez and Jose Acuna.

Naquin was 31 at the time and hit .246 with an OPS of .749 during the 2022 season.

At the time of the trade, neither Acuna or Rodriguez was a top 30 prospect for the Mets. However, Reds President of Baseball Operations thought highly of the duo.

“For us, the two players we’ve got have upside,” Krall said. “First, Hector Rodriguez is a player that's a center fielder. He’s a plus runner, has a chance to have a plus hit tool. We’re really excited about him. He’s going to go to our Arizona Complex League.”

He also really liked Acuna.

“[Acuna] added 3 mph to his fastball from last year to this year. You can see him developing and growing. He’s 19 years old,” Krall said. “He’s got a chance to be a legitimate Major League starting pitcher. Those are harder to get as you climb up the levels. Maybe you would’ve got one of those instead of both, but we felt that it was the right thing for us in this organization to take a shot on two guys at the lower levels.”

Three years later, Rodriguez is doing everything he can to earn a big league call up.

On Wednesday, he went 1-3 with his 18th home run of the season. He's hitting .289 with an OPS of .906 for the Bats in Triple-A this season.

Rodriguez's biggest concern is his chase. Last season, it was at almost 50%, which is never going to be sustainable at the big league level. This year, it's improved drastically, but it is still at 34.7%, which is too high.

The other thing Rodriguez needs to continue to improve on is his glove.

"Rodríguez has played all three outfield spots, focusing on the corners with the Reds, but playing a good amount of center field in winter ball," Baseball Savant wrote this offseason. "While he once looked like a fourth-outfielder type, he could profile well as an everyday left fielder with elite hand-eye and bat-to-ball skills."

It's a matter of when, not if, we see Hector Rodriguez in a Reds uniform this season.

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