The Pirates have signed right-hander to a minor league deal, according to a report from . Alexander adds that Rodriguezs deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training. Rodriguez, 27, has found playing time in the majors in each of the last three seasons. After spending the earlier years of his minor league career as a starting pitcher, a brutal stint at the Triple-A level in 2021 caused him to move to relief, and he posted a solid 4.27 ERA at the level in 2022. Despite that decent figure, he walked an elevated 11.9% of batters faced, though he fanned a solid 27.2% of opponents to make up somewhat for his wildne s. Rodriguezs decent results at the highest level of the minors prompted a call-up to the major leagues, though his first cup of coffee in the majors lasted just one scorele s inning. The right-hander then began to shuttle between the majors and minors more regularly in 2023, though unfortunately his results took a turn for the worse at both levels. At Triple-A, Rodriguezs ERA ballooned up to 5.03 though his strikeout (29%) and walk (12%) rates held more le s steady relative to the previous year. His results in the majors were nothing short of disastrous, however, as the righty was shelled to the tune of a 7.90 ERA as he surrendered 20 hits and six walks in just 13 2/3 innings of work. Even his strikeout rate dipped to just 22.7%, which while solid enough is not nearly high enough to justify Rodriguezs wildne s. Those difficulties in 2023 left Rodriguez to enter 2024 in a precarious position. Unfortunately, Khyri Thomas Jersey he didnt manage to make much of a case for himself with the Rangers this year as he once again struggled in both the major and minor leagues. With the big league club, Rodriguez posted a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings of work this year while walking (11) nearly as many batters as he struck out (12). Meanwhile, his numbers for Triple-A Round Rock were even nearly as bad as he surrendered a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. While he struck out an impre sive 33.3% of opponents faced, that wasnt enough to counterbalance a ma sive 15.2% walk rate. Rodriguezs struggled ultimately led the Rangers to ship him to the Blue Jays in late June of this year. With the Jays, Rodriguez found some succe s at Triple-A in a small sample size as he posted a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 frames, but his control problems remained as he walked a whopping nine batters while striking out ten. Those solid results did not translate over to the majors, however, as the right-hander was torched to the tune of a 15.43 ERA in four appearances in the majors for Toronto this year as he surrendered nine hits (including two homers) in just 4 2/3 innings. That led the club to designate him for a signment back in September, leaving him to be outrighted to the minors and eventually elect free agency. Now that hes signed on with Pittsburgh, hell figure to enter Spring Training with a chance to earn a spot in the Pirates bullpen to open the season. While hes struggled in terms of results at both the major and minor league levels in recent years, the right-hander does have youth on his side having just celebrated his 27th birthday. Whats more, the righty still po se ses high-end stuff including a 96.8mph average on his fastball. If the Pirates can help him work out his serious problems with command, its not hard to imagine him being a viable reliever for the club in 2025. Vince Carter Jersey