Yerry Rodriguez has been very good this season

Last night was mostly a forgettable night on the farm, and thus I didn’t do a farm recap post last night. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the outing Yerry Rodriguez had for Hickory last night.

Yerry went 6 IP for the Crawdads yesterday, giving up just 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 7 and walking no one. This is just the latest quality outing in what has been a terrific season for the 21 year old righthander, coming on the heels of his breakout 2018 campaign.

If anyone had heard of Yerry Rodriguez prior to 2018, it was because he had gotten suspended for performance enhancing drugs in 2017. He had an eye-opening start to 2018, though, with 55 strikeouts in 38.1 IP for the AZL Rangers against just 3 walks and 1 home run — his ERA of 3.52 didn’t reflect how good he was. That earned him a promotion to Spokane, where he had a 1.82 ERA in 4 games, with 27 Ks against 5 walks and 2 homers allowed in 24.2 IP to finish the season.

2019 has been Yerry’s full season debut, and he’s been terrific for Hickory this year. In 13 starts over 73.2 IP, he has struck out 85, walked 21 and allowed 5 homers, giving him a 3.17 FIP to go with his 2.08 ERA.

Yerry doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he has a nice three pitch mix and good command. He’s one of those guys who will have to prove himself at each level as he moves up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a chance to show what he can do in Down East before the summer is out. He’s been one of the solid stories from the farm this season, and last night was just the latest example.