JUPITER, Fla. — For Carlos Rodriguez, the World Baseball Classic is a homecoming story of the most epic kind.
The 21-year-old right-hander will get the start for Team Nicaragua in Saturday’s Pool D opener against Puerto Rico.
That alone would be a memorable moment for any pitcher on the first Nicaraguan team to qualify for the WBC, but Rodriguez will be toeing the rubber roughly 10 miles from Miami Christian, where he attended high school.
“It’s a great honor for me to be able to represent the flag, especially at home where I was raised,” Rodriguez said before Nicaragua’s 6-4 loss Thursday to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “I don’t even have words for it. I’m just so hyped for it. I can’t wait for it to happen.”
Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Brewers’ No. 13 prospect, Rodriguez — a sixth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft — was named Milwaukee’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2022, leading all of the organization’s qualified affiliate-ball Minor Leaguers in WHIP, opponents’ average, strikeout rate and FIP in 107 2/3 innings at Single-A and High-A.
“It’s been great,” Rodriguez said. “I guess I had a pretty good first season, so I have just kept working harder and harder to have a great second season.”
That sophomore year will start with the WBC, where Rodriguez will earn a shot at facing Major League hitters in a competitive environment before he ever reaches Double-A.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to show the Brewers what I could do at the Major League level,” Rodriguez said. “I have to prove myself so I can show them that I’m able to pitch at that level, but I’m not going to overthink it. At the end of the day, those guys are humans just like me, so I’m going to go do what I know how to do and just pitch.”
“He’s 21 years old, but it’s all about his character, his preparation, his mentality and how he carries that with him on the mound,” Nicaragua manager Sandor Guido said through a translator. “He’s going to learn a lot from this moment when facing these hitters, but it’s also going to help him as he continues his growth and career trajectory to reaching the Majors.”
Rodriguez, who was born in Nicaragua and moved to Miami at the age of eight, estimates that he will have between 15 and 20 family members and friends on hand for his start.
“I have to get all those tickets,” he said with a smile. And those loved ones who aren’t making the trip from Nicaragua will be glued to their…
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