There may not be a more tantalizing character in Pirates training camp right now than Endy Rodriguez. He’s the complete package, as you can see the energy that surrounds him, and he hasn’t been too shabby hitting the ball since coming over from the New York Mets.
The young catcher was one of the best hitters in the Florida State League in 2021 (called Low-A Southeast then), and then shot up three levels last season, finishing with a brief stint in Indianapolis.
He’s also one of the most versatile players defensively, not only a legitimate catcher, but athletic enough to see time at first and second base, along with left field.
It wasn’t too difficult a choice in deciding who would be named the Player of the Year in the Pirates system in 2022, but what’s in line for the encore?
Added to the 40-man roster this offseason, and one of two catchers currently there, it would have to take a lot to happen for Rodriguez to make the Opening Day roster — as it’s already been stated he’s slated to begin the year in Indianapolis.
Going to do something new. To help with my P2Daily articles, everyday I'm going to pick a random day during the season, and highlight a top performer from that day. Endy Rodriguez had 3 hits, including a home run, on April 15 for Greensboro. #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/4eLPMsH2nR
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) November 9, 2022
Endy’s progression throughout the minors has a lot of the projection models absolutely all in on him going into the 2023 season.
Some models vary on the playing time, but his WAR/162 projections all put him in a potential discussion as one of the best catchers in the game as a rookie.
ZiPS had him at a 3.3 WAR in 124 games played, with Steamer even projecting him at a 1.4 WAR in 57 games (that’s 3.71 WAR/162).
‘THE BAT’, another projection on FanGraphs, gave Rodriguez an 0.6 WAR in 57 games played (1.7 WAR/162). That’s maybe the most contained of what the computers feel like he could end up as.
An interesting thing about Steamer was that a lot of his value came from defense, with a 3.8 DEF mark, compared to 0.9 OFF. While he has the athleticism to help out in any number of ways, the way the roster is constructed, the biggest impact he can have will be at the catcher position.
The Pirates have quite a few names in camp fighting for the backup catcher spot behind Austin Hedges, but once they deemed Rodriguez ‘ready’, there won’t be anything holding him back.
For the second straight year the Pirates are going to have an incredibly highly ranked prospect join the major league team, adding another piece to a potential young core they hope to compete with.
While there should always be caution when it comes to rookies, Endy’s rapid progression is something that could make him a quick study at the major league level, and even with his eye popping offensive numbers, even the computer projections still see his potential impact in the field.
