Yankees Mag: Showtime

It is rare to see the Yankees make a trade with the division rival Red Sox. So, you can imagine Elmer Rodríguez’s surprise on Dec. 11, 2024, when the former Boston farmhand found out he was being dealt to the Yankees in exchange for catcher Carlos Narváez.

Shock and mixed feelings quickly changed to the realization that he could one day pitch for the team he rooted for as a kid. With that in mind, the 22-year-old has made the most of his opportunity. He rocketed through the Yankees’ system last season, pitching at three levels before being named the team’s Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America.

Rodríguez began his second season in the organization with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and was heralded as the Yankees’ No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- he's now No. 2 -- and just one step away from realizing his dream of becoming a major leaguer, a fantasy that became a reality on April 29.

It's a dream that began when Rodríguez was growing up in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. He saw his older brother, Victor, playing baseball and, like any little brother, wanted to emulate him. He watched games on television and became a Yankees fan. His favorite player was Alex Rodriguez.

“Ever since I stepped on a field, it was love at first sight,” says the 6-foot-4 right-hander. “I always wanted to get the chance to play in the Bigs. As I kept growing, it was all I did. I come from a baseball family, so I feel like it was in my genes. That was the goal, to one day be in the Bigs. Being a kid and watching all those games on television, it inspired me to hopefully one day prepare and get the opportunity to be there.”

Perhaps his biggest inspiration and supporter was his grandfather, Aurelio Cruz.

“He was always going to my games,” Rodríguez says. “Every time I would pitch, he would sit behind home plate and scream at the umpires when they didn’t call strikes. I really looked up to him. He was a big Boston fan. The funny part is I used to call him Big Papi because he had a big belly. I think his favorite player was David Ortiz.

“I remember my senior year, the whole draft process, when I was starting to get more involved in showcases, he always said I was going to sign with Boston one day.”

Boston, indeed, wound up selecting Rodríguez in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft, but Rodriguez’s grandfather died before he could see that happen. The pitcher believes that Cruz was there in spirit, though.

“His tomb number is 105, and I was the 105th pick in the draft,” Rodríguez says. “That was real meaningful for my family. He’s probably sad, though, that I’m a Yankee.”

In three seasons in the Red Sox system at the Rookie and Single-A levels, Rodríguez had a combined 11-11 record with 195 strikeouts in 183 1/3 innings. He was an All-Star in 2024 with the Salem Red Sox of the Carolina League. Then came that day in December when he received news that he never expected.

“I got the phone call to let me know, ‘Hey, we made this trade, and you’re part of it,’” he recalls. “The next thing I wanted to hear was what team. I was seeing stuff on social media at that time that Boston and Seattle were really engaged in trade talks. I was like, ‘Dang, am I traded to Seattle?’ They said, ‘No, you’re traded to the Yankees.’

“I was shocked at that moment. You don’t see Yankees trades with Boston that often. I had some mixed feelings in the beginning, going to a new team, but at the same time, I saw it as an opportunity, and I’m excited to be here.”

Rodríguez started last season at High-A Hudson Valley and went 6-4 with a 2.26 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings spanning 15 games (14 starts). That earned him a call-up to Double-A Somerset on July 11, where he went 5-3 with a 2.64 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings over 11 starts. He finished the year with the RailRiders, making his Triple-A debut on Sept. 20 at Buffalo and suffering a 4-2 loss, allowing four runs and eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts in five innings. All told, he was 11-8 with a 2.58 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 150 innings and 27 games (26 starts).

“I thought it was a great year,” Rodríguez says. “At the beginning, we were working on some stuff. As time went on, I felt like I was getting better at being more consistent with my stuff and execution. Then I went to Somerset and tried to take that mindset of going out there, having fun and continuing to do the same thing I’d been doing. It worked pretty well, too.

“I just have that mindset to go attack, trust my stuff and mostly go out there and have fun.”

***

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre made the International League final, and Rodríguez started the deciding Game 3 of the series Sept. 25 against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. He didn’t make it out of the first inning: five runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. A late rally fell short, and the RailRiders lost, 7-4.

It was the RailRiders’ biggest game of the season, and the starter was a kid pitching in Triple-A for just the second time. Sure, it was his turn in the rotation. But it was also a declaration of the organization’s belief that Rodríguez has a bright future.

“It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but at the same time, it was a good opportunity for him,” RailRiders pitching coach Spencer Medick says. “I don’t think he crumbled under the pressure. He had some bad luck. He made some good pitches, but balls found some holes and he just wasn’t able to escape it.”

Coming into Spring Training this season, Medick noticed the biggest difference with Rodríguez was that he was showing more trust in his stuff. That confidence only grew following his time playing for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, a brief stretch during which he was able to pick the brains of veterans and legends. In addition to being surrounded by All-Star teammates, Rodríguez was managed by Yadier Molina. Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez was a hitting coach, as was Juan González. Sandy Alomar Jr. was first base coach, and Joey Cora coached third.

“Having the opportunity to learn from them and get some insight from them was really helpful,” Rodríguez says. “It was a good experience and at the same time a learning moment, too, to try to enhance my abilities, my mindset and how to prepare myself to be a Big Leaguer and prepare myself to go out there and give my best every single outing.”

On March 9 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rodríguez started a WBC game against Cuba. He pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three in a 4-1 victory.

“It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever felt, especially pitching at home,” he says. “Ever since I got drafted, I never got the chance to pitch at home in Winter League or whatever. So being home, being in front of Puerto Rican fans, it was electric. First inning, the vibes were off the chart. I remember telling [catcher] Martín Maldonado that I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest, the adrenaline was so high. It was awesome. I didn’t take a single part of it for granted. I tried to enjoy it from start to end, and hopefully I get the opportunity to go there again. But being home and having my family there was special.”

***

Medick struggles to name Rodríguez’s best pitch because he has so many weapons. But on the whole, Rodríguez reminds him of a right-handed Max Fried.

“Four-seam, two-seam. We added a cutter last year and have continued to work on it this year,” Medick says. “He’s got a sweeper, he’s got a curveball with some depth, he’s got the splitter. Really just throwing everything at everybody and has a lot of success with it. Fills up the zone. A lot of pitchability.”

Perhaps the thing about Rodríguez that most impresses Medick is his aptitude, especially for his age.

“He’s a young pitcher, but very astute,” says the pitching coach, who joined the organization in 2022 and turns 35 this month. “Really good memory. When we’re going over lineups, he remembers hitters he faced in the FCL years ago. A really strong mind for the game, good game-planner. Just shows a level beyond his years.”

Besides Rodríguez, the RailRiders’ rotation to begin the season also featured right-hander Carlos Lagrange, MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 prospect in the Yankees’ system. Rodríguez says he and Lagrange have a great relationship and constantly push each other to be better. No. 21 prospect Brendan Beck, another right-hander, is also part of the rotation.

“Having some homegrown talent here is exciting,” Medick says. “It’s something we typically haven’t had, whether we’ve traded some of our pitching prospects or had a more veteran rotation here. It’s really cool to see the fruition of everything we do as a department get close to the big leagues and hopefully have the opportunity to help the big-league club this year as we chase No. 28.”

For Rodríguez, the dramatic call came late in April, when he got word that he would be flying to Texas for a start against the Rangers. While the pitcher’s normally excellent control betrayed him in the afternoon outing -- and who could blame him if the nerves proved a bit much -- the debutant often looked sharp. He was touched up for two runs on four hits and four walks in four innings, but he showed off his huge pitch arsenal and wowed with some nasty put-away offerings.

He made one more start -- 4 2/3 innings of three-run ball against those same Rangers at Yankee Stadium on May 5 -- before heading back to Triple-A when Carlos Rodón returned from his rehab assignment. But he returned when Max Fried was placed on the injured list to face the Mets in Subway Series action on Sunday, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings.

“I think it was very valuable for him to get up here, get a couple starts, get a feel for it, face a little bit of adversity in each outing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Rodríguez’s first two big-league starts. “I thought he handled that adversity pretty well.”

It remains to be seen if the Narváez-for-Rodríguez trade ranks up there with such Yankees/Red Sox deals as Babe Ruth for cash or Sparky Lyle for Danny Cater and Mario Guerrero. Narváez has developed into a solid catcher for Boston, while Rodríguez plans to use his time at Triple-A to continue to improve, become more consistent and do the little things that will get him to the next level.

“I try not to think of it as it’s going to be more difficult. I just trust myself, go out there and have fun,” he says. “I’ve got the stuff to play at any level. Just try to have that confidence. I feel the more experience I get, the better it’s going to get.”

Scott Walsh is a contributing writer for Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the May 2026 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.