Nivaldo Rodriguez #58

Signed by the Astros as a 19-year-old non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela on June 13, 2016...signed by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo, Tom Shafer and Roman Ocumarez...Named the Astros No. 25 prospect by MLB.com this offseason, Rodriguez relies on a high-spin rate curveball, as his primary weapon...Was one of three pitchers on the 2020 Astros to make the jump to the Major Leagues directly from Class A Fayetteville...Rodriguez was joined by RHP Humberto Castellanos and RHP Carlos Sanabria to hold this distinction...Added to the Astros 40-man roster on Nov. 20, 2019...had two stints in the Majors in 2020, using one of his three option years.

2020

Made the jump directly from Class A to make his MLB debut and pitched in five games for the Astros across two stints with the club...Also appeared in three Spring Training games, going 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA (2ER/5IP)...optioned to minor league camp on March 9...returned to the club for Summer Camp and began his season at the Astros alternate training site...Was recalled to Houston on July 27 for his first career MLB stint...was optioned on Aug. 14...recalled to Houston on Sept. 27 for the club’s final regular-season game...Made his MLB debut on July 28 vs. LAD, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings...struck out Cody Bellinger for his first Major League strikeout...Threw a career-high 4.0 innings on Sept. 27 at TEX...gave up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts.

2019

Posted a combined 6-6 record with a 2.40 ERA (28ER/105IP), 35 walks and 114 strikeouts in 24 games (15 starts) between Class A Advanced Fayetteville (24g) and Class A Quad Cities (6g)...began the season at Quad Cities...struck out a season-high nine batters over 7.0 scoreless frames on May 2 at Lake County...was promoted to Fayetteville on May 16...finished the season with the Woodpeckers, going 3-5 with a 2.92 ERA (24ER/74IP) in 18 games (9 starts).

2018

Pitched the entire season with Class A Short Season Tri-City, going 4-1 with a 2.91 ERA (18ER/55.2IP) and 50 strikeouts in 14 games (7 starts).

2017

Combined to go 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA (13ER/57IP) and 63 strikeouts between the Dominican Summer League Astros (6g) and the Gulf Coast League Astros (9g)...pitched to a 0.35 ERA (1ER/26IP) in the DSL before receiving a promotion to the GCL for his first professional stint in the United States.

2016

Made his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League, going 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA (1ER/7.2IP) in five games.