The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Dominican reliever Yerry Rodríguez from the Texas Rangers. The Rangers will receive righty Josh Mollerus. Both are minor-league bullpen pitchers, and the Rangers have allotted Mollerus to their high-A affiliate and Rodríguez to Triple-A Buffalo.
The #BlueJays add some bullpen depth in a trade with the #Rangers:https://t.co/IXF5YftCOg pic.twitter.com/sIf4IwDvjF
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) June 30, 2024
Blue Jays Add Yerry Rodríguez to Bullpen from Rangers
Struggles With the Rangers
The Rangers DFA’d Rodríguez earlier this week. This acquisition also ends the 26-year-old’s nine-year tenure in the Rangers system. Rodríguez’s major league career with the Rangers started in 2022 when he made his MLB debut. Unfortunately, his numbers over the last three seasons have been subpar. He was sporting a 7.11 ERA across about just over 30 innings of work for the Rangers. But his issues have carried over to this season, with a 6.88 ERA across 17 innings pitched. He’s had trouble with walks (11) that bear a similar total to his strikeouts (12). His walk rate has also been troublesome during his time in the minors. It has increased to 15.2 % this season with an ERA of 5.42 in 151 career minor-league innings.
What Rodriguez Brings to the Table
But looking at the brighter side of things with Rodríguez, he’s a bullpen pitcher who can throw with power. For his career in the minors, he has a strikeout rate of 28.16 %. But maybe a new environment for this youngster could do him better. If the Blue Jays can help him fix his control issues, he could be reshaped into a new and improved pitcher.
There’s work to be done, but the Blue Jays acquiring him appears promising. The fact that he is a bullpen pitcher with major-league experience is a plus, as the Toronto bullpen is in rough shape right now. From injuries to designating long-tenured reliever Tim Mayza for assignment, to other relievers struggling, Rodríguez is a viable option they can turn to whenever needed. Rodríguez also has experience as a starting pitcher but has transitioned to the bullpen and has the most experience as a reliever. His other asset in the bullpen is that he can put in several innings of work, hence why he would provide depth to the Blue Jays bullpen.
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