The Mets signed Jose Rodriguez out of the Braves system earlier this off-season. The Angels originally signed him in 2012 and he made a cup-of-coffee major league debut in 2019 at the age of 23 years old. Between 2019 and 2020, Rodriguez has pitched in 10 major league games, starting one, with 21.1 innings posting a 2.53 ERA in a very small sample size.
Last year the Braves used him as a starter in the minor leagues. In AA ball, he posted a 1.61 ERA and a 0.672 WHIP over 22.1 innings. AAA ball, where he was two years younger than the average player, wasn’t as kind to him. He posted a 5.29 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over 78.1 innings.
According to his Baseball Savant page, he has a changeup (mid 80’s), 4-seamer (low 90’s), slider (low to mid 80’s) and a curveball (mid to high 70’s). In 2019 he also logged a low 90’s sinker in 2019 as well. The amount of pitches he has screams starter/spot starter/long reliever.
The Mets learned a lesson about arms last year – you can never have enough of them. Especially arms that can start games. Rodriguez would be fairly low down the depth chart thanks to some other moves the Mets made. That being said, he could easily be a spot started candidate this season depending on if he’s able to stretch his arm out where he is placed. Specifically, I’m thinking about a scenario where the Mets need one start, so it doesn’t make sense to go to Peterson or Megill. The Mets will be looking at him this spring both determine if he’s going to Binghamton or Syracuse and where on the Mets depth chart he falls.
