Elmer

Rodríguez

The 22-year-old has a 1.27 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 20/7 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings at Triple-A to start the season. He was sitting 95 mph with his fastball on Wednesday and posted 40 percent whiff rates on both his slider and changeup. His fastball itself doesn’t get many whiffs, which has limited his strikeout upside, but he has five pitches he trusts and has shown great command of the strike zone. With Gerrit Cole (elbow) and Carlos Rodon (elbow) both likely to return in May, there likely won’t be many innings at the big league level for Rodríguez this season, but he is setting himself up as a future piece in the Yankees’ rotation or a really valuable trade chip.

Jovani Morán, Yacksel Rios, Fernando Cruz and Edwin Díaz finished the 10-strikeout masterpiece, which included just one unearned run. Puerto Rico’s big blow was delivered by the recently retired Martín Maldonado, who had a three-run double on a grounder down the third base line in the second. Puerto Rico is 3-0 ahead of his its Pool B finale against Canada on Tuesday, and since either Canada or Cuba will finish with two losses, Puerto Rico has clinched a spot. Canada needs to beat Puerto Rico and then Cuba on Wednesday in order to advance.

The 24-year-old slugger was awfully impressive during Grapefruit League play, slashing .333/.455/.889 with three homers, seven RBI and three stolen bases in 22 plate appearances. He was unfortunately battling against a crowded outfield mix. He’ll now fight with Jasson Dominguez to be the next man up once injury eventually strikes and the Yankees need reinforcements.

Rodríguez is right there with hard-throwing Carlos Lagrange as the top pitching prospect in New York’s system and he’s tracking towards making his big-league debut at some point later this season. The 22-year-old is ticketed for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open the year but it wouldn’t be surprising if he made it to Yankee Stadium by the second half.

Rodríguez wasn’t working at peak velocity just yet, but even so, he did a nice job against an Orioles lineup stacked with regulars. He’s taken over as the Yankees’ No. 1 pitching prospect in the year since he was acquired from the Red Sox for Carlos Narváez, and he might get a chance to contribute in the majors this summer.

One of the most polarizing prospects in baseball, Jones combines top-of-the-scale raw power with abysmal contact skills. The 24-year-old slugging prospect is capable of making some serious noise, especially in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium, if he’s able to make enough contact to survive at the highest level. He’s the ultimate high-risk prospect for fantasy purposes. Rodríguez made a serious leap last season into one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, compiling a 2.58 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 176/57 K/BB ratio across 150 innings over 27 appearances (26 starts) between three levels.

The interesting wrinkle here is the international bonus pool money, which could factor into the impending Roki Sasaki sweepstakes. Rodriguez-Cruz was a fourth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft and has yet to pitch above High-A. He’s a lottery ticket for the Yankees.