By Jon VankinShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberNew York Yankees top pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez made his World Baseball Classic debut on Monday, when he took the mound for Puerto Rico. The 22-year-old blanked the team from Cuba at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, going three innings on just one hit, striking out three.
It was a sparkling outing from one of the brightest stars in the Yankees system, their No. 3 prospect and second-ranked pitcher.
But with Puerto Rico through to the WBC quarterfinals and Rodriguez preparing for his next appearance, potentially in that single-elimination round game on Friday, the Yankees delivered some news that is certainly not what the fast-rising prospect wanted to hear.
...On their official transactions page, on the same day that Rodriguez turned in his solid performance against Cuba, the Yankees announced that they had optioned him to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
That means once Puerto Rico is eliminated, Rodriguez will not return to spring training with the Yankees, but instead will report to minor league spring training — and will start the season at the Triple-A level.
The Yankees acquired Rodriguez in a rare one-to-one prospect trade with their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, during the 2024 winter meetings. In exchange for the then-20-year-old pitcher, who had never pitched above the Single-A level, the Yankees sent catcher Carlos Narvaez to Boston.
More MLB: Yankees Rumored 103 mph Trade Target Hunter Greene Breaks Silence on Elbow
Narvaez quickly took Boston's starting catcher job and helped lead the Red Sox to the postseason for the first time since 2021. But Rodriguez also had a remarkable year, leaping from the Single-A level to Triple-A in one season. He got in only two starts for the RailRiders, however, and they weren't great. Rodriguez gave up nine runs on 12 hits over 5 2/3 innings.
The Red Sox originally drafted Rodriguez in the fourth round in 2021, out of Leadership Christian Academy in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. According to MLB Pipeline, at 160 pounds and 17 years, 11 months old, he was the lightest and third-youngest player taken in that year's draft.
More MLB: Yankees Pitching Prospect Swiped From Red Sox Gets Key Assignment: Report
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