Red Sox pitching prospect Wuilliams Rodriguez has been named the Florida Complex League Pitcher of the Month for July, Minor League Baseball announced on Tuesday.
In four outings (three starts) for the rookie-level FCL Red Sox last month, Rodriguez allowed one earned run on six hits, four walks, and 15 strikeouts over 15 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters batted just .122 against him.
On the 2024 campaign as a whole, Rodriguez posted a 3.82 ERA and 3.56 FIP with 30 strikeouts to 11 walks over 12 appearances (four starts) spanning 30 2/3 innings of work. The 18-year-old right-hander closed out his first season stateside by firing 8 1/3 consecutive scoreless frames against the FCL Orioles and FCL Rays on July 16 and July 23, respectively.
Among the 76 FCL pitchers who threw at least 30 innings this year, Rodriguez ranked ninth in WHIP (1.14), 12th in FIP, 17th in walks per nine innings (3.23) and walk rate (8.8 percent), 20th in xFIP (4.04), 21st in line-drive rate (13.8 percent), 24th in batting average against (.216), 29th in strikeout rate (24 percent), 33rd in groundball rate (46.3 percent), and 34th in swinging-strike rate (14.9 percent) and ERA, per FanGraphs.
Rodriguez, who turns 19 in November, originally signed with the Red Sox for $50,000 as an international free agent coming out of Venezuela in January 2023. The 6-foot-2, 199-pound Barquisimeto native made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last June and was recognized as a DSL mid-season All-Star. He is not currently ranked among Boston’s top 60 prospects by SoxProspects.com but is projected to make the jump to Low-A Salem in 2025.
(Picture of Wuilliams Rodriguez: Bryan Green/Flickr)
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