Roster news: Rodriguez to debut Tuesday, Hernández signed

Carlos F. Rodriguez, the Milwaukee Brewers’ back-to-back Minor League Pitcher of the Year, will make his major-league debut on Tuesday in a start in Milwaukee against the Toronto Blue Jays. The initial report came from Spanish-language media yesterday afternoon, and was confirmed by Curt Hogg after the game last night.

Rodriguez, who was born in Nicaragua and attended high school in Miami, is just 22 years old, and was a sixth-round draft pick out of Florida SouthWestern State College in 2021. After throwing his first two professional innings 2021, Rodriguez has torn up the minor leagues: he has won the award for Minor League Pitcher of the Year in the Brewers system (shared with Robert Gasser in 2023) in each of the two seasons in which he had any semblance of volume. In 2022, between Low-A and High-A, Rodriguez went 6-5 with a 3.01 ERA, 129 strikeouts, and 40 walks in 107 ²⁄₃ innings. In 2023, he pitched mostly at Double-A Biloxi, where he was 9-6 with a 2.77 ERA, 152 strikeouts, and 53 walks in 123 ²⁄₃ innings.

Rodriguez got off to a slow start at Triple-A Nashville this season but he has been much better as of late: he has a 2.83 ERA, 40 strikeouts, and nine walks in his last six starts, covering 35 innings.

Though he hasn’t made any of the major top 100 prospect lists, Rodriguez is currently ranked as the Brewers’ No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 9 by The Athletic, though Fangraphs has him all the way down at No. 19.

Rodriguez is not on the team’s 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will need to be made before Tuesday’s game. Depending on how Robert Gasser’s third doctor’s opinion goes, that move could be placing him on the 60-day IL. DL Hall, who has been on the 15-day injured list since April 21, could also be moved to the 60-day IL even if the team believes he is getting close to a return (backdating a 60-day IL stint would make him eligible to come off of that list on June 20). Otherwise, the team will likely look at a DFA of someone like James Meeker (who made his MLB debut yesterday) or perhaps Chris Roller or Vinny Capra.

Update:

The Brewers had a little more roster activity this morning, doing the very thing speculated here and moving Hall to the 60-day IL. It was not, however, to make room for Rodriguez—instead, it was to make room for Elieser Hernández, who was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 31 and decided to become a free agent rather than accept his outright assignment to Triple-A. To make room on the active roster, Meeker was transferred back to Triple-A Nashville.

The 29-year-old right hander Hernández made five appearances (one start) for the Dodgers this season and allowed nine runs in 9 ²⁄₃ innings. He pitched for the Miami Marlins from 2018-22, mostly as a starter. With the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate this season, Hernández had a 2.83 ERA in 28 2/3 innings. He made six appearances there, five of them starts, and had 34 strikeouts and eight walks.

Hernández has a long track record of minor-league success, but so far has not been able to translate that success to the major leagues.