The Giants are calling up Dereck Rodriguez, son of Ivan Rodriguez
Even for the sons of MLB legends, the road to the majors can be tough. For pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, that road to the majors took him more than seven years to travel. But now it looks like he’s made it to his ultimate goal. According to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, the San Francisco Giants are calling Dereck up to the majors.
Dereck was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2011, but not as a pitcher. At the time, he was an outfielder, and the plan had been to turn him into a rangy five-tool player. But after three seasons in the low minors, he’d only hit .216/.279/.336. So in 2014, the Twins decided to turn him into a pitcher. It was the right move. In 2015, he had a 2.85 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 12 starts and 66.1 innings pitched, and those stats earned him the honor of being named the Appalachian League’s Pitcher of the Year. Not bad for a guy who’d barely been pitching for a year.
Dereck spent seven years with the Twins after he was drafted, and his contract ran out after the 2017 season. The Giants signed him during the offseason and sent him to their Triple-A team. He’s primarily been a starter, but will work out of the bullpen during his first major league call-up.
In case you’re wondering, Dereck looks a whole lot like his dad.
Just got the best call of my life!!!! It’s show time!!!⚾️
A post shared by Dereck Rodriguez (@drod_31) on May 28, 2018 at 12:15am PDT
Seriously, put a wig on young Pudge and you get Dereck.
A post shared by Dereck Rodriguez (@drod_31) on Nov 27, 2017 at 10:11am PST
The Giants are about to start a three-game series Denver against the Colorado Rockies. Baggarly tweeted that it’s not a sure thing that Pudge will make it there for Monday’s game.
If Pudge Rodriguez makes it to Denver today for his son Dereck’s potential MLB debut, it’ll be a long trip. Pudge has been working his land in Colombia the past few weeks. No Medelllin-Denver nonstops last I checked.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) May 28, 2018
But he did tweet a congratulatory video to Derek on Monday afternoon.
Congrats son very proud of you and welcome to the big show God bless you #prouddad felicidades hijo DTB y sabes que eres el mejor ⚾️ @DereckrodRF3 @SFGiants @MLB pic.twitter.com/joUtfVHxG1
— Ivan Pudge Rodriguez (@Pudge_Rodriguez) May 28, 2018
That’s so sweet. Hopefully Pudge can make it to Denver to see his son play in the majors.That’s so sweet! Hopefully Pudge can make it to Denver to see his son play in the majors. And if not, the Giants head back to San Francisco on Friday for six straight games. There’s zero chance he misses the opportunity to see his son, who celebrated with him on the field after the Florida (now Miami) Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series, throw pitches as a major league ballplayer.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
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