Endy Rodriguez has become one of the biggest surprises for the 2026 Pittsburgh Pirates. After missing all of 2024 and most of 2025 with a myriad of injuries, Rodriguez is making a massive comeback with Pittsburgh and shaking up the Pirates’ catching depth chart. Rodriguez is a switch-hitter; however, he is struggling so badly against left-handed pitchers as a right-handed batter that it might be time to drop the entire thing and only hit left-handed.
Endy Rodriguez Needs to Drop Switch-Hitting
2026 Breakout Season
Rodriguez is slashing an impressive .270/.393/.472 with a .385 wOBA and 143 wRC+ over 109 plate appearances this year. He is providing solid power with four homers, six doubles, and a .202 isolated slugging percentage. He has a 92.5 MPH exit velocity and a 12.7% barrel rate. Rodriguez’s increase in power output also coincides with his uptick in bat speed. He is now up to 72.4 MPH, compared to the 69.9 MPH mark he posted in his 2023 rookie season. While his 23.9% K% isn’t going to impress anyone, his plate discipline will. He has only chased outside the zone 24.3% of the time and is walking at 17.4%. To put how good that is into perspective, Juan Soto’s career walk rate is 18.4%.
All Production Comes from Batting Left-Handed (Literally)
It’s not an exaggeration to say that literally all of Rodriguez’s production has come as a left-handed batter against right-handed pitching. It’s more or less accurate, if anything. 92 of his plate appearances have come against right-handers. In that sample size, he has a 176 wRC+ and a .320/.440/.560 triple-slash. He has whiffed at just a 21.1% rate, with a 93.3 MPH exit velocity and a 12.3% barrel rate when facing RHP.
Rodriguez has faced left-handed pitching as a right-handed batter 17 times this year. In those 17 plate appearances, he has no hits and eight strikeouts. While he has drawn three walks, that is the only good thing he has accomplished when facing lefty pitching this year. However, even that is offset by his 46.9% whiff percentage when facing a Southpaw.
Not Just A 2026 Issue Either
Rodriguez has constantly struggled against left-handed pitching in the Major Leagues. He is a career .141/.230/.154 batter in 87 plate appearances vs lefties. In that time, he has struck out at a 31% rate and a 33.1% whiff rate. When he has made contact, it hasn’t been good contact. He has just an 88 MPH exit velocity and a 3.9% barrel rate vs left-handed pitching. Rodriguez has just a single extra base hit against lefty pitching, that being a double.
Switch-Hitting Is Not Easy
Switch-hitting is very hard. Only very few batters ever find success in doing it, so there’s no shame in Rodriguez dropping it altogether. Last year, only 32 switch-hitters came to the plate at least 300 times. Of those 32, only 14 had a wRC+ over 100. Bryan Reynolds and Josh Bell are the only two Pirates since 2016 with a wRC+ over 100 while with the Pirates. The third most recent is Neil Walker, who the Pirates traded in the 2015-2016 offseason.
Most Recent Switch-Hitter to Find Success as a One-Sided Batter
There are some examples of switch-hitters dropping switch-hitting and benefiting from it. One of the most recent examples is Cedric Mullins. The outfielder dropped switch-hitting in 2021 with the Baltimore Orioles. During that season, he hit 30 home runs over 675 PA’s with a 136 wRC+, compared to the seven home runs and 72 wRC+ he had in his first 418 MLB plate appearances.
At this point, Endy may hit better lefty-vs-lefty than switch-hitting. His only potential saving grace is if he completely overhauls his mechanics against Southpaws when hitting right-handed. The Pirates can’t keep trotting out a sub-.400 OPS batter when a lefty is on the mound unless some big changes are made. Even if his OPS rises to .500 or .600 as a lefty-only hitter vs lefty pitching, he’ll make much more of an impact and become much more usable on an everyday basis.
Main Photo Credits: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
