When Luis Rodríguez closes his eyes, he sees everything. To your left, Mookie Betts jokes from the central forest. Behind him you can hear the movement of the fans. Some fans call him between innings, asking for a ball. In front of him is the inner square of Dodger Stadium, everything Rodriguez dreamed of as a kid in Venezuela.
Then Rodríguez opens his eyes and begins to work. What was once a fantasy a dream crazy, is now a goal that seems to be within reach. “Mookie has that long contract and I’m getting ready to play with him someday in the Dodgers, “said Rodriguez, 18, from the team’s facilities in the Dominican Republic.” God willing, that’s the way it will be. I can play anywhere in the outfield, but I’d love to one day patrol the central forest with Mookie by my side. “
Rodriguez, who ranked fourth on MLB.com’s 30 Best International Prospects list last year, is considered the Dodgers’ No. 6 prospect now. The ranger is scheduled to participate in the club’s instructional league in the Dominican Republic next month and could play in the Arizona League, a rookie league, in 2021.
And while it may seem too ambitious that someone like Rodríguez, whose professional career is just beginning, is dreaming of sharing the pitch with one of the best players in the majors, it’s worth noting that Rodríguez will be 30 years old in 2032, when he expires. the contract Betts signed with the Dodgers.
“It’s going to happen,” Rodríguez said.
The Venezuelan brims with confidence. It has had a long journey to this point.
“It was a true team effort, and we are quite satisfied with the process by which we added him to our farm,” said Roman Barinas, the Dodgers’ Latin America scouting supervisor. “While we were evaluating him, he kept hitting no matter how advanced the pitching we faced him was. Then, as he grew and developed his power, his potential impact exceeded our original expectations. That speaks volumes about his work ethic. “.
It was the club’s listening coordinator in Venezuela, Jackson Canelón, who was then a scout, who saw Rodríguez for the first time in a test and put him on the club’s radar. The teenager was tall and thin, but he was strong and had the ability to send the ball from one channel to another. As far as defense goes, he was capable of covering a lot of ground, and his arm had enormous potential.
There were rumors in 2017 that Rodríguez’s coach was moving his players from Venezuela to the Dominican Republic due to social and political unrest in the country, and a few months later that was precisely what he did.
Over the next several months, Laiky Uribe, who is now the Dodgers’ scouting supervisor in the Dominican Republic, kept an eye on Rodriguez and recorded 130 of his 140s at the plate. The club’s director of international scouting, Ismael Cruz, and other members of his staff, including Barinas, had Rodríguez in their sights for several months. Luis Marquez, who at the time was the Dodgers’ listening supervisor in Latin America and now works for the Mets, was the first to compare Rodriguez to Los Angeles outfielder AJ Pollock.
“The physical tools get attention, but he’s also pretty smart, one of those guys that you can have long, intellectual conversations with about the game, things like what a pitcher did to get him out and how he can counter it,” Barinas said. “The sport is evolving, and there is much more information available to players; what is striking is that he is the type of player who is going to take advantage of that as much as he can in order to be the best player he can. to become”.
Today, Rodriguez gets up at 6 a.m. and in less than an hour he’s on the Dodgers’ grounds. His daily routine includes a strength and conditioning program, batting practice, defensive work, and English lessons. Rodríguez acknowledges that he has a lot to learn, but that is part of the challenge.
“My goal is to try to do the best job possible, which is to be consistent and stand out on the field of play,” Rodriguez said. “As far as numbers are concerned, we all want good numbers, but what I really want is a good swing and making good contact, so I’m going to focus on that. I want to move as fast as possible and reach my main goal of play in the majors with the Dodgers. “
Jesse Sánchez / MLB.com
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