Reds prospect Hector Rodriguez dazzles with 3-home run recreation

Hector Rodriguez has been one of many Cincinnati Reds high 10 prospects for a number of years now. The outfielder joined the group again in 2022 in a commerce with the New York Mets that despatched Tyler Naquin out on the commerce deadline in a 4-player deal. Rodriguez was simply 18-years-old on the time, and he was additionally an infielder who had performed in simply two video games outdoors of the advanced leagues within the Dominican Republic or Florida. It was an extended shot choose up of a proficient hitter who was uncooked and much away, however the transfer appears to have been a powerful one by the Reds as he’s became one of many higher hitters within the group since he arrived.

The 22-year-old has been strong to this point in 2026 with Louisville, hitting .270/.339/.431 with eight doubles, two triples, seven house runs, 22 walks, and 38 strikeouts in 230 plate appearances coming into Wednesday afternoon’s recreation for the Bats. But his numbers look a complete lot higher now that the sport is over.

Hector Rodriguez started his day on the plate with an inside-the-park house run that hit excessive off of the wall in right-center. Two innings later he lined a single into proper subject. The subsequent time he was on the plate for Louisville was within the backside of the sixth inning and he took a 96 MPH fastball up within the zone and crushed it 394 toes over the fence in right-center for his second house run of the day. An inning later he was again on the plate and dealing with a left-handed reliever. Rodriguez acquired a sweeper that caught an excessive amount of of the plate and turned on it, hitting it 382 toes onto the awning in the appropriate subject stands for his third house run of the day. In his closing plate look of the sport he drew a stroll to finish a 4-for-4 day.

As famous above, when the sport started Hector Rodriguez was hitting .270/.339/.431 on the season. After the sport ended he had bumped that line as much as .284/.353/.486. That’s a bounce in OPS of 69 factors on the finish of May for only one recreation. That’s powerful to do, however going 4-for-4 with a stroll and three house runs can also be fairly powerful to do. No participant in Bats historical past (relationship again to 1982) has ever homered greater than thrice in a recreation.

Rodriguez has been on a little bit of a heater during the last week, although on account of some rain outs that’s solely been 4 video games price of play. But in his final 4 video games he’s gone 9-16 with two walks, two strikeouts, and 4 extra-base hits.