Yankees Prospect Turns Heads in Spring Debut

Elmer Rodríguez was tame velocity-wise for his New York Yankees debut. Tame, by his standards, though, is a little different from what it is for anybody else.

Rodríguez topped out at 96.8 MPH in the first inning of the game against Gunnar Henderson. Overall, he averaged 95.7 MPH on the fastball and 95.1 on the sinker. In that first inning, he gave the Orioles a little extra, averaging 96.5 MPH, before just averaging around 95 the next two.

Yankees #3 prospect Elmer Rodriguez strikes out Orioles #1 prospect Samuel Basallo to complete a 1-2-3 first inning pic.twitter.com/3UNtXxkpiK
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) February 20, 2026

Rodríguez held back a little, which is fine because he doesn't need to blow his arm out in an exhibition game. Against Aaron Judge earlier this week, the young arm hit 102 MPH. The captain went down swinging, which may have been a bit of revenge when Judge took him deep earlier that day. There was no need for those theatrics against the Orioles, though, in the year's first look at televised baseball since last season.

The Results

Against a lineup that featured Henderson, Pete Alonso, who later homered, Samuel Basallo, Tyler O'Neill, Colton Cowser, and Adley Rutschman, Rodríguez went three scoreless innings. He generated five swings-and-misses on the 23 swings that the Orioles took, and had just one strikeout.

The lone whiff came against Basallo. He struck out on a 94.9 MPH sinker on the outside corner.

Rodríguez also danced in and out of trouble throughout the game. With a runner on first and third in the second, he got Heston Kjerstad to hit into a double play.

Feb 20, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Elmer Rodriguez (76) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles during spring training at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Then, with a runner on first in the third inning, Pete Alonso scorched a sinker that came off his bat at 104.3 MPH. Prospect Kennedy Corona made an impeccable diving catch to end the inning, and thus, put a bow on Rodríguez‘s day.

Postgame Chatter

After the game, Rodríguez said the most important part of his outing was learning from everybody around him.

"I'm just trying to learn as much as I can from all the veterans here, just seeing what they're doing," Rodríguez said, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "I'm trying to add it to my game, go out there and have fun, just execute the best I can. Their presence on the mound, how calm they are, they take it one pitch at a time. I'm just trying to do the same. I feel like I did the same today."

Manager Aaron Boone was impressed by the prospect's outing, mentioning his poise as a hallmark of his game.

"His ball does a lot of different things," Boone said, according to Hoch. "He's very much under control and running up against a very real lineup there. The poise we continue to see, that first time in a big league Spring Training -- he handled it well."

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