Behind only Jedixson Paez, Elmer Rodriguez was the second-youngest Red Sox minor-leaguer to reach the century mark in strikeouts this season.
Rodriguez, who turned 21 in August, struck out 102 of the 375 batters he faced in 21 outings (20 starts) between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. The right-hander posted a 2.91 ERA and 3.56 FIP with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 102:43 over a career-high 89 2/3 innings in which opposing hitters batted just .198 against him.
A former 2021 fourth-round draft pick out of Leadership Christian Academy in Puerto Rico, Rodriguez returned to Salem (where he spent all of 2023) to open the 2024 campaign. In 14 appearances (13 starts) for the Red Sox, the young righty forged a 2.51 ERA (2.73 FIP) with 73 strikeouts to 25 walks across 61 innings. He was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Month for June after allowing two unearned runs in 20 1/3 innings and was subsequently promoted to Greenville in late July.
From that point forward, Rodriguez pitched to a 3.77 ERA (5.34 FIP) with 29 strikeouts to 18 walks in seven starts (28 2/3 innings) for the Drive. Though he gave up hits less frequently, his strikeout rate fell (from 28.5 to 24.4 percent) and his walk rate rose (from 9.8 to 15.1 percent) after moving up a level for the first time in nearly two years. Perhaps that resulted from fatigue at the tail end of a long season, but it was nonetheless a productive year for Rodriguez.
Among the 486 minor-leaguers who pitched at least 85 innings in 2024, Rodriguez ranked 33rd in batting average against, 59th in groundball rate (50.2 percent), 60th in ERA, 76th in xFIP (3.47), 96th in strikeout rate (27.2 percent), 101st in strikeouts per nine innings (10.24), 120th in FIP, 135th in WHIP (1.20), and 156th in swinging-strike rate (12.9 percent), per FanGraphs.
In addition to earning Carolina League Player of the Month honors, Rodriguez was recognized as a Baseball America Low-A All-Star in September and a SoxProspects.com All-Star in October. The former rates the Trujillo Alto native as the No. 20 prospect in Boston’s farm system while the latter has him ranked 21st. MLB Pipeline regards him as the Red Sox’ No. 17 prospect, which ranks sixth among pitchers in the organization.
Though he is listed at 6-foot-3 and 160 pounds, Rodriguez is presumably heavier than that after adding strength this past offseason in an effort to gain more velocity. Those efforts seemingly paid off, as the projectable hurler sat between 94-97 mph and reached 99 mph with his fastball this season. He complements the heater with a bevy of secondaries, including an 85-88 mph slider, an 80-83 mph curveball, and an 88-91 mph changeup.
Assuming he remains with the Red Sox through the winter, Rodriguez is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Greenville for the start of the 2025 season. He is then in line to become Rule 5-eligible for the first time in his career if he is not added to the 40-man roster by the protection deadline next November.
