In May, Héctor Rodríguez mashed three homers in one contest. In June, he posted back-to-back four-hit nights that included three long balls. He's already delivering more offensive fireworks in July.
The Reds' No. 5 prospect belted two homers and collected three RBIs in Triple-A Louisville's 5-4 victory over Omaha at Louisville Slugger Field on Tuesday. The night gave Rodríguez three homers and three multihit performances in five games this month and raised his OPS to .918 through 84 contests.
At 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, Rodríguez generates scorching exit velocities from the left side -- his homer on July 3 left the bat at 113.7 mph -- by leveraging his body with a high leg kick. His first dinger on Tuesday, which came on a 91.1 mph cutter by righty Mitch Spence (Royals) in the first inning, left the bat at 100.9 mph and traveled 382 feet to right-center field.
Two frames later, Rodríguez got the better of Spence for a second time, hammering another cutter for a roundtripper. The moonshot left the outfielder's bat at 100.8 mph and was launched 392 feet onto the berm in left-center field, securing his third mulithomer game of the year.
Rodríguez walked in his final two at-bats, reaching base a perfect four times for the Bats.
COMPLETE REDS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Signed by the Mets in 2021 before being traded to the Reds, Rodríguez has steadily improved in each of his six professional seasons. Last year, he posted career highs in homers (19) and total bases (237). This season at the Minors' highest level, the Dominican Republic native has already surpassed his home run total and is on track to set more new career marks. His 21 big flies pace the Reds system, as do his hits (95), extra-base hits (39) and total bases (180). He also has the second-most homers in the International League.
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The biggest change in Rodríguez's output this season has been his ability to drive the ball for extra bases. While producing an average (.290) and on-base percentage (.369) in line with previous years, he has slugged nearly 100 points higher (.549) than he did in 2025.
For context, Rodríguez's slugging percentage ranks third among qualified players 22 years old or younger at Triple-A, trailing only organization mate Edwin Arroyo (CIN No. 3/MLB No. 88) and the Angels' Denzer Guzman, both of whom are now in the big leagues.
This offseason, Rodríguez foreshadowed his breakout with a stellar campaign in LIDOM. Representing Leones del Escogido, he slashed .301/.375/.504 with four homers across 31 contests.
Rodríguez carried his winter momentum into the regular season, and now he's knocking on the door to the bigs.