A name to remember: Emmanuel Rodriguez is a jewel of the Twins farm system

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Limited to 58 minor league games per season over the past four years because of various injuries, Emmanuel Rodriguez is the biggest enigma in the Twins farm system.

“I haven’t even showed half of what Emmanuel Rodriguez can do,” the 22-year-old center fielder said in Spanish. “My goal is to play more games, to play a full season healthy, and that’s where I’m going to show what Emmanuel can do.”

Rodriguez, despite four injury-plagued seasons, is ranked as a consensus top 50 prospect in the sport and the No. 2 prospect in the organization behind Walker Jenkins. When he’s on the field, he has displayed a unique skill set with few comparable players in the big leagues.

His stats show his potential. In 37 games at Class AA last year, the 5-11, 210-pound lefty batter produced a .298 batting average and a .479 on-base percentage with eight homers, 12 doubles, 20 RBI, 40 runs and nine stolen bases.

And he started the season as the seventh-youngest player in the Texas League.

Even his batting practices are different. He rarely chases pitches. As a coach tosses him baseballs, it’s common to see him watch four or five pitches in a row until one enters the strike zone. He drew a walk in 24.4% of his plate appearances last year, which was tops in the minors.

When he unleashes swings, it’s clear why pitchers often choose to walk him. As he hit inside the batting cages for the first time during Twins camp — he was sidelined for a few weeks with an ankle sprain — a couple of nearby ushers peeked inside and asked who was making those unmistakable loud cracks with the bat.

The way teams measure the high-end power potential for young hitters is their 90th percentile exit velocity, isolating the top 10% of a player’s batted balls. Among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects this year, Rodriguez led the entire list with a 110.1-mph exit velocity. Some teams have analytical models that view Rodriguez as a top five overall prospect.

“The eye he has in the batter’s box, pairing that with his power production is a really special combo,” Twins General Manager Jeremy Zoll said. “That is hard to find.”

Rodriguez’s approach isn’t without a pitfall. He struck out in 29.7% of his plate appearances last year, vulnerable to swings and misses in the strike zone with his powerful swing. His passive offensive approach, which leads to a ton of walks, works against him too as he falls into a lot of two-strike counts.

“Guys like Emmanuel are hard to project given there aren’t a ton of guys that have walked that much, done that much damage and struck out that much in their minor league time,” Zoll said. “There is not a rich history to project off there, but there are so many markers pointed favorably in his direction, which has us really excited about his future and impact on the organization.”

The most important step for Rodriguez, a good defensive outfielder, is proving he can stay on the field. He’s played more than 47 games in a season once. A nagging thumb injury derailed his 2024 season, which required surgery in September to repair the radial collateral ligament in his right thumb. Twins head trainer Nick Paparesta called it a rare injury for a baseball player.

Most players injure their thumb the other way — imagine pulling it backward — when sliding into a base. The way Rodriguez injured his thumb, when it folded toward the rest of his hand, it affected how he followed through on his swings.

Rodriguez felt the injury on May 26, reinjured it the following week, felt more pain during a rehab assignment in July and then felt it flare up once more after playing for a week at Class AAA in September.

“It was really difficult,” said Rodriguez, who was sidelined because of a knee injury in 2022 and an abdomen strain in 2023. “In the season, you don’t have a lot of time to be frustrated. I kept trying to recover and recover. Of course, there are days where it gets in your head, but I kept pushing to be healthy.”

Rodriguez, who initially signed for $2.5 million out of the Dominican Republic, has been a well-known player since he entered the Twins organization in 2019.

What does he think when he sees his name near the top of prospect lists?

“I really don’t pay attention to that,” Rodriguez said. “I remember when I first signed, I was one of the top prospects for the Minnesota Twins. I’ve always had a goal, and I want to make the big leagues and keep developing. That’s what matters the most.”

Rodriguez paused as team interpreter Mauricio Ortiz translated his response, before signaling he had more to say.

“I am really happy and honored to be on those lists, but that hasn’t been my focus. My focus is to be the best on the field.”

If Rodriguez can’t cut down on his strikeouts, his future will likely include low batting averages and high on-base percentages. A small improvement could transform him into a middle-of-the-lineup force.

“Once I get to play a full season,” he said, “that’s where I’m going to show who I am.”