Former Guardians outfielder follows incredibly familiar path after trade to Pirates

There’s no team that loves a Guardians castoff more than the Pittsburgh Pirates. From Erik González to Yu Chang to Greg Allen, there seems to always be one or two times a year where the Pirates end up signing a player that Guardians fans know well. 

We got another example of that on Monday when the Pirates traded for former Guardians outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez following his recent DFA from the Baltimore Orioles. 

Although Rodríguez didn’t do much in his time with the Guardians, the Pirates are the second team this year to roll the dice on him in the hopes they can help turn his minor league production into major league results. 

Johnathan Rodríguez is the latest player to follow the Guardians-Pirates pipeline

Rodríguez’s latest tenure with the Orioles lasted just two games, as they called him up ahead for their doubleheader against the Red Sox last week before cutting him loose to make room for waiver claim Yohel Pozo. Rodríguez ended up going 2-for-4 with a double in the second game of the doubleheader, which snapped Boston’s 15 game winning streak. 

He went 0-for-7 with the Orioles during his first call-up in April. 

Although Rodríguez always teased the Guardians with incredible minor league production (he won International League MVP in 2024), he was never able to put it together in the bigs. Most of his MLB appearances with the Guardians came last season, but he managed just a .197/.260/.366 slashline in 31 games. 

It looked like he had finally put it together at the end of last season when he finished the year with two solid games against the Rangers that helped him earn a spot on Cleveland’s postseason roster. 

That ended up being a mistake. Not only did he go 0-for-3 in the postseason, but he also provided them with some subpar defense that contributed to their Game 1 loss to the Tigers in the Wild Card Series. 

Rodríguez’s main problem is his ability to hit spin, which is the biggest reason why he has a career strikeout rate of 31.8%. Both of his hits with the Orioles came on fastballs. 

But those struggles weren’t enough to dissuade the Pirates, who added him to their 40-man roster and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. 

While the Pirates have been one of the best stories in baseball this year, they’ve had to piece their outfield picture together this season ever since Oneil Cruz went on the injured list.

Jake Mangum, Bryan Reynolds and rookie sensation Esmerlyn Valdéz have handled things on the grass as of late, but Valdéz left Pittsburgh's game on Monday with a wrist injury. Rodríguez stands out as a logical call-up should he have to miss any time. 

While Rodríguez never impressed in his big league time with the Guardians, it was enough for the Pirates. A tale as old as time. 

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