Steven Francis "Paco" Rodríguez (born April 16, 1991) is an American former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. Prior to playing professionally, Rodriguez attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Florida Gators. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

from 2012 to 2015.

Amateur career

Rodriguez is of Cuban descent. His parents met and married in Spain after defecting from their home country separately. They then moved to the Dominican Republic, Canada, and New Jersey before living in the

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

area, where their son was born on April 16, 1991. Rodriguez has an older sister and a younger sister who graduated from Brown University. He attended Gulliver Preparatory School in

, where he was named to Class 3A All-State and the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

'' All-Dade Team. The

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

selected Rodriguez in the 48th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft after his high school graduation, but he did not sign. Rodriguez enrolled at the

, in order to play

for the Florida Gators baseball team in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). For the Gators, Rodriguez served as the team's closer. His career earned run average (ERA) at Florida (2.19) in 86 appearances is the lowest since the introduction of aluminum bats in 1974. He was an All-SEC selection in 2012. Rodriguez helped lead the Gators to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

in three consecutive years.

Professional career

Los Angeles Dodgers

The

selected Rodriguez in the second round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft. Draft experts suggested that he would be one of the first players from the draft to reach the majors. After signing with the Dodgers, he was assigned to the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. After six appearances with the Loons, he was promoted to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League, where he pitched in 15 games with a 1.32 ERA. The Dodgers promoted Rodriguez to the major leagues on September 5, 2012, and became the first 2012 draftee to reach the majors. He made his debut in a game on September 9 against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and retired the one batter he faced. He appeared in 11 games for the Dodgers in 2012, as a left-handed specialist, and allowed only one run to score in 6.2 innings. Rodriguez started the 2013 season on the Dodgers' major league roster. After a rocky April, he became a trusted member of the Dodgers' bullpen, though he faltered in September and October under the heavy workload of an MLB season. From May through August, his ERA was 1.31 in 52 appearances. His season totals were a record of 3-4 with a 2.32 ERA in 76 games. Rodriguez spent most of 2014 with the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes, but had four separate brief stints with the Dodgers. In July, Rodriguez strained an upper back muscle. In 32 games with the Isotopes, he was 2–3 with a 4.40 ERA and in 19 games for the Dodgers, he was 1–0 with a 3.86 ERA. In May 2015, Rodriguez was added to the disabled list and underwent a bone spur removal surgery in July.

Atlanta Braves

On July 30, 2015, in a three-team trade, the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

acquired Rodriguez, Héctor Olivera, minor league pitcher Zachary Bird, and a competitive balance draft pick for the 2016 MLB Draft, while the Dodgers acquired Mat Latos, Michael Morse, Bronson Arroyo, Alex Wood, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilán, and José Peraza, and the Miami Marlins acquired minor league pitchers Victor Araujo, Jeff Brigham, and Kevin Guzman. Though he was expected to recover sufficiently from multiple injuries by September and make his first appearances for the Braves, Rodriguez did not pitch at the major league level for the rest of the 2015 season, and underwent Tommy John surgery in September. On December 2, 2016, Rodriguez and the Braves avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $637,500 contract for the 2017 season. Rodriguez was released from his contract with the Braves on March 28, 2017.

Baltimore Orioles

On July 10, 2017, Rodriguez signed a minor league deal with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. He made 9 appearances for the rookie–level Gulf Coast League Orioles, registering a 7.50 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work. He elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Minnesota Twins

Rodriguez signed with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the G ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

for the 2018 season. After one appearance for the Skeeters he signed a minor league contract with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. He was released by the organization on August 2, 2018.

Sugar Land Skeeters

On August 10, 2018, Rodriguez re-signed with the

of the

. He became a free agent following the 2018 season. In 3 games 2.1 innings of relief he went 0-1 with a horrible 15.43 ERA with 4 strikeouts.

San Diego Padres

On February 18, 2019, Rodriguez signed a minor league contract with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

organization. In 28 games split between the Double–A Amarillo Sod Poodles and Triple–A El Paso Chihuahuas, he compiled a 4–1 record and 3.35 ERA with 43 strikeouts across innings pitched. Rodriguez elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Pitching style

Rodriguez has an unusual and deceptive delivery in which, from the batter's perspective, he hides the ball behind his head before slinging it towards the plate.Dylan Hernandez
Dodgers reliever Paco Rodriguez continues to impress
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Published August 26, 2013, Retrieved November 27, 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Paco 1991 births Living people Baseball players from Miami American sportspeople of Cuban descent Major League Baseball pitchers Los Angeles Dodgers players Florida Gators baseball players Great Lakes Loons players Chattanooga Lookouts players Albuquerque Isotopes players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Oklahoma City Dodgers players Gulf Coast Orioles players Sugar Land Skeeters players Criollos de Caguas players Fort Myers Miracle players Amarillo Sod Poodles players 21st-century American sportsmen El Paso Chihuahuas players Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente pitchers