It goes without saying that Twins prospect Emmanuel Rodríguez needs stay healthy in order make good on his potential. And, obviously, to help the Twins. But if it really goes without saying, why do people keep saying it? Unfortunately, it's because Rodríguez has trouble staying healthy.
A sprained left ankle suffered in mid-February has prevented Rodríguez from participating fully in camp, continuing a career-long trend. Rodríguez was going to play with the big boys as a member of the 40-man roster, but now he almost certainly will need extended spring training in Fort Myers in order to catch up.
The Triple-A season starts next week for St. Paul just like majors.
It's a tough deal for Rodríguez, who is ranked anywhere from No. 17 (by Baseball Prospectus) to No. 37 (by MLB Pipeline) among overall prospects. Given the skills he's shown when healthy, Rodríguez almost certainly would be ranked even higher if he could stay on the field.
Rodríguez came into February recovered from surgery on his right thumb in November that finally fixed a recurring problem throughout the 2024 season. It was an injury that limited Rodríguez to 47 games combined at three levels.
He still batted .280/.459/.567 with nine home runs, 14 doubles, nine stolen bases and 51 walks in 209 plate appearances at age 21. For his career, he's a .250/.422/.510 hitter with 44 homers and 223 walks in 1,016 plate appearances since his first season in 2021. He's also not bothered by left-handed pitching, even with a lefty swing. But he's also never played more than 99 games in a season. In two of the past three years, he's played exactly 47.
Rodríguez always has shown exceptional power and patience at the plate, though sometimes his selective nature gives way to an approach that might be too passive. He just won't swing at pitches off the plate, though he'll take big hacks and miss at strikes, too. With a little experience and refinement, he could be something special.
On defense, he could play good enough to play a strong center field, but scouts suggest right field would be his best position. It will be interesting to see where he and Walker Jenkins, the Twins' top overall prospect, end up positioned. Jenkins has been going through his own injury battles lower in the minord.
If both players can get into a healthy groove this season, it might not be long until Rodríguez and Jenkins join the Twins at Target Field for the next decade. At the same time, Rodríguez's development will be stunted if he's not playing because of injuries. Aside from that significant issue, he's about ready to play in the majors.