The New York Yankees are still in the Yoshinobu Yamamoto conversation, but whether they land the Japanese pitching superstar or not, there’s another potential star the front office has their eye on. Like Yamamoto, this one has never pitched in MLB either, yet has starred in the highest level of Japanese baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
While Yamamoto, who’s expected to sign a contract topping $300 million, is generating all the headlines, another pitcher is generating a healthy amount of interest this offseason.
His name is Yariel Rodriguez, a 26-year-old right-handed relief pitcher from Cuba who’s pitched three seasons in the NPB. Now, after winning the Central League’s Most Valuable Setup Pitcher award, Rodriguez wants to take his talent to MLB.
Rodriguez has a career ERA of 3.03 across 175.1 innings and a 3.06 ERA in 731.1 innings in his entire professional career. He also has experience pitching for Cuba’s national team in 2019 and in 2023.
While MLB fans may not know Rodriguez’s game yet, once they see him pitch, they’ll have a hard time forgetting what he offers as a hard-throwing reliever with a fastball reportedly reaching as high as 97 mph. When Rodriguez isn’t averaging 95 mph with his fastball, he also mixes in a slider that leaves hitters confounded at the plate.
As you can see, Rodriguez has potential. With the Chunichi Dragons releasing Rodriguez from his contract so he can pursue his dreams of pitching in MLB, he’s free to negotiate this offseason. Luckily for him, several teams are already interested.
These teams include the New York Yankees, but as Francys Romero reports, Houston, Pittsburgh, and Toronto have all expressed interest in signing Rodriguez too. However, Romero notes that we shouldn’t anticipate a signing before Yamamoto makes his decision.
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