Endy Rodríguez will head back to the IL

Rodríguez’s first RBI came on a bases-loaded walk. In the ninth, he gave the Pirates a nice cushion with his homer in what had been an 8-7 game. He’s batting .271/.358/.559 with all four of his homers and 13 RBI in 21 games this month. If this keeps up, he might be in line for some time at DH or first base when he’s not catching.

This frees up the Pirates to carry on with Endy Rodríguez and Henry Davis behind the plate. Bart has missed the last five weeks with a foot infection, but he’s about ready to return now after going 4-for-16 with a homer in five rehab games, and that the Braves DFA’d Sandy Léon to make room for him suggests he will come off the IL and join the team right away. Bart seemed to have a breakthrough 2024, hitting .265/.337/.462 with 13 homers in 282 plate appearances, but he hasn’t kept it up in coming in at .251/.345/.346 with six homers in 394 plate appearances the last two seasons. The Braves will have him back up Drake Baldwin for now, but like they did with Jonah Heim, they could move on from Bart once Sean Murphy is healthy.

It’s exciting to see Rodríguez hitting .268/.423/.482 with three homers in 72 plate appearances for the Pirates. His defensive numbers aren’t great and it’s far from clear if he can stay healthy while catching regularly, but his bat has always been very intriguing. He should keep getting all of the playing time he can handle between catching and DHing.

Rodríguez homered to right-center against a Sandy Alcantara cutter and managed another double earlier in the game that he scored on. The 26-year-old backstop is now hitting .240/.387/.420 in his first 50 big-league at-bats this season, and while that’s not completely surprising given his prospect pedigree, he may force Pittsburgh’s hand if he keeps hitting like this. Henry Davis is hitting just .138 in 142 plate appearances and Joey Bart (still on the 10-day IL) wasn’t scorching hot when he was healthy either. Perhaps Rodríguez can hit his way back onto the fantasy radar here.

The 26-year-old backstop was pulled from Wednesday’s game due to left hip discomfort and sat out on Thursday as a precautionary measure. He’s back behind the dish and batting seventh for Friday evening’s battle against Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins.

Rafael Flores Jr. took over behind the plate after Rodríguez went 0-for-3 before departing. The timing is a bit complicated for the Pirates with Henry Davis away on paternity leave for the next couple days. It’s possible the club will have to promote someone from Triple-A Indianapolis on an emergency basis if Rodríguez is unavailable for Thursday’s series finale.

Davis will be away from the club for a couple days on paternity leave with Endy Rodríguez handling the bulk of the catching responsibilities.

It will be Rodriguez’s first taste of big league action this year as Henry Davis takes a seat in the day-game-after-a-night-game scenario against RHP Chase Dollander. Rodriguez was hitting .221/.326/.301 for Triple-A Indianapolis in 136 plate appearances. The prospect luster appears to have worn off here after several injuries.

Rodríguez returns to the majors with fellow backstop Joey Bart heading to the injured list with a foot infection. The 25-year-old was considered one of the better catching prospects in the game just a couple years ago before elbow issues derailed him. He’s batted just .210/.276/.311 with three homers in 261 plate appearances over 75 games in the big leagues dating back to 2023.

No word yet on how much time Bart will miss. The 29-year-old backstop heads to the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. It’ll be Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez handling the catching duties in his absence.