The Pirates must find him a spot on the field consistently in 2025.
The Pittsburgh Pirates do not seem interested in finding Endy Rodriguez an Opening Day roster spot. If so, he’d be getting a ton of reps at first base this spring – you know, the position they are having open tryouts for since they had no actual platoon or backup plan for the unproven Spencer Horwitz.
This includes Adam Frazier, Jared Triolo, and Jack Suwinski, who have never really played the position and have issues at the plate. Then there is D.J. Stewart and Darrick Hall, who are no better than AAA depth, and Matt Gorski—who may end up being their only option with potential they consider at the position and may remarkably make the Opening Day roster.
However, Endy Rodriguez may have more talent than all of those guys combined, and he has first-base experience in the Minor Leagues. Yes, he hasn’t had a ton of Minor League at-bats and didn’t play at all last year. However, Oneil Cruz missed the 2023 season and was already considered the face of the franchise heading into last season. Cruz had previously shown some success in the Majors and is a freak athlete, but Rodriguez arguably has a chance to be the better player.
I am entirely on board with Rodriguez being the full-time catcher of the future (I’m pretty much out on Henry Davis). But this Pirates team has to have an urgency to win now for various reasons. Rodriguez should platoon at first base this season (especially while Horwitz is out) and catch when Bart needs days off behind the plate.
Although Joey Bart has no experience at first base, the ideal scenario would have been for Bart and Rodriguez to split catching and first base duties 50/50, so they are both in the lineup daily, since Bart’s defense behind the plate is subpar. But unfortunately, Bart, who was one of the best hitters on the team last year in 80 games, has not been thrown into the first base frenzy in Bradenton.
But Rodriguez being a viable option at first this season is still an easy move – he’s familiar with the position. If he’s rusty and stinks for a while at the plate, so be it. Let him learn at the highest level, and hope improvement occurs as the summer months approach. If he is so lost at the plate in the first two or three weeks of the season that he needs to return to AAA Indianapolis to get comfortable, it’s still worth the risk with his upside.
With the lack of depth in this lineup due to a weak offseason, management must let the young guys play and hope they contribute because if not, their jobs are in jeopardy. Without guys like Rodriguez and Jack Suwinski making significant contributions, all that’s left to believe in is Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham (only notable offensive free agent additions) having the production necessary at the end of their careers while Joey Bart continues his pace from last year as a solid cleanup man behind Reynolds and Cruz; I doubt that all three of those things happen.
So management being content with Rodriguez getting everyday reps at catcher in AAA Indianapolis for an extended period is not a good sign for this 2025 Pirates offense.