'I'm Just Thankful,' CJ Rodriguez' Vanderbilt Career was Cut Short, but he's Grateful for it Nonetheless

Former Vanderbilt catcher CJ Rodriguez took just 45 at-bats and played in 12 games before his freshman season was cancelled and a Vanderbilt team with national title hopes was left to wonder ‘what if?’

Rodriguez and his returning teammates would go on to reach Omaha in 2021, but as he takes a phone call from his hotel room in Davenport, Iowa–where he and the Lansing Lugnuts prepare to secure a series win over the weekend–he still sometimes wonders if his two years at Vanderbilt could’ve resulted in two Omaha berths–and perhaps a longer one in 2021–if not for Covid-19. 

“I definitely wish we could’ve played our whole freshman year,” Rodriguez told Vandy on SI. “I feel like we would’ve been a bit more prepared because our team was pretty young in ‘21. But, I have no regrets. I kind of put it all in God’s hands and that’s the story he wrote for me.” 

Rodriguez showed signs of being a force in his Covid-shortened freshman season, but broke out in his sophomore season in which he hit .249 with a .771 OPS and was the primary catcher for a team that ultimately ended its season as the national runner up. 

As a result of the MLB Draft being pushed back and Rodriguez then becoming eligible for it as a sophomore in 2021, his college career ended in Vanderbilt’s national title loss to Mississippi State. A career that was supposed to last three years lasted just two. 

It was over, just like that.

“When I think back at my time at Vandy, it was kind of like a blink of an eye,” Rodriguez said. “The whole situation that I was in my freshman year being Covid, so the majority of our season being cancelled obviously threw a wrench in things. My sophomore year I came back and played consistently enough and we ended up going to Omaha and the draft got moved up so I became eligible, and that was kind of it.” 

Rodriguez was drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics and opted to sign with them rather than coming back to school for his junior season. As a result, his Vanderbilt career was as short as any player’s has been within recent memory. 

The former Vanderbilt catcher–who is now in High A with the Athletics alongside former Vanderbilt catcher Davis Diaz–isn’t brushing off his two years as a Commodore, though. 

“I kind of owe everything to Coach Corbin and Vanderbilt,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like I see things on the baseball field that others don't because of what Corbs taught us and how he taught us to play the game the right way. That’s what I try to carry is just doing the little things the right way and respecting the game because it can be taken from you at any point.” 

The former Vanderbilt catcher is in his third season in Lansing and has a .197 batting average and a .561 OPS, he knows that any day a call can come and can change his season–and perhaps his career. 

Instead of worrying about that, he just tries to go to the field each day and play the game the way Corbin instilled in him. He won’t showboat. He won’t yell and scream. He’ll just play and pray for the best outcome in the future. 

“At the end of the day, I just put it in God’s hands,” Rodriguez said. “I’m doing everything I can to work as hard as I can and get up that mountain and it’s easy to compare yourself to other people, but my story is already written and I’m just kinda watching it so that’s just the mentality I take.”

Perhaps Rodriguez will end his career in the major leagues, maybe he won’t. He’s not taking any day–or his Vanderbilt career–for granted, though. 

“I’m just thankful for Coach Corbin and the Vanderbilt program,” he said, “For allowing me to be a part of it.”