CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Guardians have selected OF Johnathan Rodriguez to the 40-man roster from Triple-A Columbus. Rodriguez was free agent eligible and needed to be selected by November 7.
The 6-0, 225-pound right-hander is coming off a career year, leading the Guardians Player Development System across numerous statistical categories, including batting average (.286), home runs (29), RBI (88), OPS (.897) and hits (142). The Toa Baja, Puerto Rico native split the season at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. In 88 games at Akron, he hit .289 (93-for-322) with 18 home runs, 55 RBI and an .876 OPS before being assigned to Columbus on July 26. In 47 games with the Clippers, he recorded a .280 batting average (49-for-175) with 11 home runs, 33 RBI and a .936 OPS.
Rodriguez finished 2023 as an Eastern League All-Star and was chosen as the Guardians Hitting Prospect of the Year by MLB.com. He was a 3rd round pick in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy and is celebrating his 24th birthday tomorrow (11/4/1999).
