Pirates Acquire Johnathan Rodríguez

The Pirates have acquired outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Baltimore, who designated him for assignment a few days ago, receives cash considerations in return. The Bucs also reinstated catcher Endy Rodríguez from the 10-day injured list. Fellow catcher Shawn Ross has been designated for assignment to both open an active roster spot for Endy and a 40-man spot for Johnathan. The latter has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Johnathan, 26, has a limited big league track record. He is in his third big league season but has just 132 plate appearances, split between the Guardians and Orioles. He has a combined line of .177/.288/.301 in that time.

He has been far better in the minors. He has a .295/.386/.508 line at the Triple-A level in 1,337 plate appearances spread across four seasons. It would obviously be great if he could hit like that in the majors but it’s questionable whether he will or not. Baseball America‘s scouting reports on him say he struggles with spin, so opponents can keep him at bay by staying away from fastballs. That’s easier to do in the majors, as many minor leaguers don’t have amazing command of their secondary stuff.

For the Bucs, there’s little harm in taking a shot and seeing what happens. Rodríguez is optionable for the rest of this year. He can stay in Triple-A as the club gets a close-up look at him. While Oneil Cruz is injured, the Pirates have a big league outfield of Jake Mangum, Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdéz. First baseman Spencer Horwitz is almost back from the injured list, which could push Ryan O’Hearn into spending more time in the outfield. Rodríguez joins Jhostynxon García as optionable depth outfielders who could be called up, if needed.

As for Ross, it always seemed like he was in for a short stay on the roster. He was added a few days ago when catcher Rafael Flores hit the IL. That made Ross and Henry Davis the catching tandem in Pittsburgh but Endy started a rehab assignment that same day. After a few tune-up games, he would rejoin Davis on the roster. That has now come to pass. Ross could have been optioned to the minors but the Bucs needed his 40-man spot to make this deal with the Orioles.

Ross got into two games and memorably homered in his lone start. That was a great moment but surely did little to change Pittsburgh’s long-term view of him. A former undrafted free agent, home runs are part of his extreme approach alongside walks and strikeouts. Before getting called up, he stepped to the plate 193 times in the minors this year, split between Double-A and Triple-A. He hit ten home runs and drew walks at a huge 17.1% pace but also went down on strikes 37.3% of the time.

It’s effectively impossible to strike out that much and be a useful big league hitter. Kyle Schwarber‘s 34.3% strikeout rate is the highest among qualified hitters this year. Ross is a few ticks above that in the minors and would presumably whiff even more if exposed to big league pitching for an extended stretch of time.

Ross now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Bucs could take five days to explore trade interest, though he could also be put on the wire sooner than that. Since this was his first time on a big league roster, he has far less than three years of big league service time and has never been outrighted. That means he would not have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers in the coming days.