Yariel Rodriguez
27-Year-Old
Toronto Blue Jays Rookie
2024 Stats
W-L
1-8
ERA
4.47
WHIP
1.32
K
85
SV
0
2025 Projections
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Rodriguez signed a five-year, $32 million contract with Toronto just before the 2024 season and spent all but 20.1 innings pitching with the big league club as a starter. Rodriguez had dominant seasons as a reliever in Japan in 2021 and 2022, but left the league just before the 2023 season in search of a major league deal. Toronto eventually gave him a deal, but it costs him any organized baseball in 2023 almost as if we were working under the old redshirt transfer rules of college. Rodriguez showed the rust of the long layoff as his command was inconsistent throughout the season. He had just one start with four or more walks and just one other in which he allowed more than one home run in a start and managed to hold opposing hitters to a .228 average on the season. Rodriguez utilized five different pitches over the course of the season highlighted by a big fastball and a whiffy slider. He has not worked more than 100 innings in a season since 2018, so it is difficult to look at how Rodriguez's body would hold up to starting over the course of a full season. Simply put, this is some intriguing upside if the command struggles of 2024 were indeed related to his layoff. Read Past Outlooks
GM noncommittal on 2025 role
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins on Wednesday was noncommittal on Rodriguez's role for next season, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Atkins referred to Rodriguez as a "solid option" for the 2025 rotation and said he's happy with where the pitcher's workload is at as a starter after he threw 107 innings in 2024. However, the GM also noted that, if the club acquires outside help for its rotation, Rodriguez "would be an exceptional reliever." All 21 of Rodriguez's appearances for the Blue Jays this season were as a starter and he should be penciled into next year's rotation, but it doesn't seem to be set in stone.
Atkins referred to Rodriguez as a "solid option" for the 2025 rotation and said he's happy with where the pitcher's workload is at as a starter after he threw 107 innings in 2024. However, the GM also noted that, if the club acquires outside help for its rotation, Rodriguez "would be an exceptional reliever." All 21 of Rodriguez's appearances for the Blue Jays this season were as a starter and he should be penciled into next year's rotation, but it doesn't seem to be set in stone.
Pitching Stats
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2024
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
72
Last 10 Games
77
Last 5 Games
71
How many pitches does Yariel Rodriguez generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Yariel Rodriguez generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-7%
BAA vs LHP
2024
-7%
BAA vs LHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022vs Left | .220 | 34 | 25 | 31 | 5 | |||
| Since 2022vs Right | .236 | 51 | 15 | 43 | 6 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .220 | 34 | 25 | 31 | 5 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .236 | 51 | 15 | 43 | 6 | |||
| 2023vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2023vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-28%
ERA at Home
2024
-28%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022Home | 3.69 | 1.18 | 39.0 | 8.5 | 3.2 | ||||
| Since 2022Away | 5.10 | 1.43 | 47.2 | 9.1 | 4.9 | ||||
| 2024Home | 3.69 | 1.18 | 39.0 | 8.5 | 3.2 | ||||
| 2024Away | 5.10 | 1.43 | 47.2 | 9.1 | 4.9 | ||||
| 2023Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2023Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2022Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2022Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Yariel Rodriguez compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
2.13K/9
8.8BB/9
4.2HR/9
1.1Fastball
93.8 mphERA
4.47WHIP
1.32BABIP
.283GB/FB
0.93Left On Base
69.0%Exit Velocity
81.7 mphBarrels/BBE
4.5%Spin Rate
2426 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
23.3%Swinging Strike
10.9%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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2024 Fantasy Outlook
Rodriguez will turn 27 years old in March and has never pitched in affiliated ball, and he didn't pitch anywhere at all in 2023. Ordinarily, such a player wouldn't be worth a second thought, but the Cuban right-hander's situation is unique. After spending six seasons in his home country as a starter, Rodriguez moved to Japan in 2020 and converted to relief, producing a 3.03 ERA across three seasons. He pitched for Cuba at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, allowing two runs while striking out 10 in 7.1 innings, but that was his only official game action of the season, as he spent the remainder of the year working out in the Dominican Republic while going through the legal process that would allow him to defect from Cuba and pitch stateside. That rustiness may give MLB clubs pause, as might his 10.4% walk rate in Japan, though it's worth noting that he cut that figure to 8.2% in his final season, a year in which he recorded a 1.15 ERA. Rodriguez didn't earn any saves in Japan, so the odds of him closing in America any time soon are slim, but he should be able to help a big-league bullpen.
More Fantasy News
Sent down to minors
The Blue Jays optioned Rodriguez to their Florida Complex League affiliate Sunday.
ANALYSIS
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Strikes out five in loss
Rodriguez (1-8) took the loss against the Marlins on Saturday, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts over five innings.
ANALYSIS
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Allows three runs in loss
Rodriguez (1-7) took the loss against the Rays on Saturday, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts over four innings.
ANALYSIS
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Tosses 4.1 innings
Rodriguez allowed a run on three hits and one walk over 4.1 innings in a no-decision Sunday. He struck out two during the win over St. Louis.
ANALYSIS
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Fans six in five strong innings
Rodriguez did not factor into the decision in Sunday's loss to Atlanta, allowing one earned run on two hits and one walk while striking out six over five innings.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Agrees to terms with Blue Jays
Rodriguez has agreed to terms with the Blue Jays on a contract, Francys Romero of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
The details of the deal are not known at this time, but Romero says Rodriguez will take a physical in the coming days in Toronto ahead of the contract becoming official. Rodriguez had reportedly been dealing with some immigration issues which had delayed his agreement with the Blue Jays, but evidently those problems have been ironed out. The 26-year-old last pitched in 2022, posting a 1.15 ERA and 60:18 K:BB over 54.2 innings with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Central League. It's not clear whether the Jays plan to use him as a starter or reliever.
The details of the deal are not known at this time, but Romero says Rodriguez will take a physical in the coming days in Toronto ahead of the contract becoming official. Rodriguez had reportedly been dealing with some immigration issues which had delayed his agreement with the Blue Jays, but evidently those problems have been ironed out. The 26-year-old last pitched in 2022, posting a 1.15 ERA and 60:18 K:BB over 54.2 innings with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Central League. It's not clear whether the Jays plan to use him as a starter or reliever.