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Rodríguez

Rodríguez is one of the more tantalizing power/speed combo talents to enter the fantasy landscape this season and appears to finally be finding his footing after experiencing some initial turbulence at the highest level. The 22-year-old rookie is leading off for the third time in the last five games after launching a three-run homer during Sunday’s lopsided game against the Cubs. He’s homered four times in his last seven games and is hitting .370 (10-for-27) during that span.

Rodríguez was benched for four straight games, three of them against righties, a week into his major league career, but two weeks later, here he is starting five games in a row, including two against lefties. He has a chance to be useful in mixed leagues in September if Terry Francona keeps him in the lineup.

Rodriguez hit a solo shot in the third inning to tie the game at two, and he homered again in the ninth on a ball that left the bat at 115.3 mph. Cincinnati began that inning down six and came all the way back to take the lead. Rodriguez hasn’t been playing every day since he was called up on August 4, but he hit leadoff on Wednesday. With their season not going anywhere, one figures the Reds will give the 22-year-old some runway down the stretch.

The 22-year-old outfielder had started each of the team’s previous four games, so he’ll get a breather to accommodate a crowded outfield mix in Cincinnati. He’s just 2-for-23 (.087) with a 6/3 K/BB ratio in his first 26 plate appearances with the Reds. Noelvi Marte will start in his place in right field and bat eighth against Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins on Friday night.

Cincinnati failed to resolve their crowded outfield situation at the trade deadline earlier this week, but made the decision to promote Rodríguez anyway. The dynamic 22-year-old went 0-for-2 with a walk and scored a run against the Athletics in his big-league debut on Tuesday night. He possesses a fantasy-relevant skillset and is worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues. The big question is whether he’s able to carve out an everyday role over the next few weeks with JJ Bleday, Noelvi Marte, Dane Myers and TJ Friedl still in the mix.

This move was reported yesterday and is now official. We like Rodríguez, but are surprised by this decision since the Reds didn’t actually trade away an outfielder at the deadline. We assume Rodríguez will play nearly every day between outfield and DH, and the DH spot could be used as a rotation for the extra outfielders. The 22-year-old is an aggressive hitter, and his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he is hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 round-trippers and six steals in 455 plate appearances for Triple-A Louisville. He’s worth a flyer in most fantasy formats.

Rodríguez is one of the more electrifying talents in the Reds’ system and will get his first opportunity at the highest level after hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 round-trippers and six steals in 455 plate appearances for Triple-A Louisville. The 22-year-old outfielder is worthy of a speculative pickup in deeper mixed leagues based on his over-the-fence power upside. He figures to play everyday for Cincinnati over the final two months.

Rodríguez now has 25 home runs on the season to go along with a .272 average, 63 RBI, and an .876 OPS. He’s an aggressive hitter, but he’s swinging outside of the zone less than he did last year and has reduced his swinging strike rate to a league-average mark. He also continues to make league-average contact while driving the ball over the fence. We should note that his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he makes the most of his contact with his approach, and playing his home games in Great American Ballpark will help. We’d imagine he’s up after the August 14th cutoff to retain his rookie eligibility for 2027.

Rodríguez now has 24 home runs and 61 RBI to go along with a .280 batting average and .902 OPS. The Reds are one of the few teams that should clearly be sellers at the deadline, so there is a chance they free up some outfield at-bats for Rodríguez to get called up in just a couple of weeks. He’s just behind guys like Joshua Baez and Walker Jenkins in terms of fantasy stashes.

The 22-year-old is now hitting .290/.369/.549 with 21 home runs, 56 RBI, and six steals in 84 games at Triple-A. He also has a solid 75/40 K/BB ratio. He’s played both corner outfield spots regularly this season, but it seems unlikely that he gets a chance in Cincinnati this year unless the team decides to move on from slumping JJ Bleday.