I often say that good teams need a guy like Sean Rodriguez on their roster. The Pittsburgh Pirates have that guy, technically a few of them, but if the Pirates are to surprise anyone this season, it likely will be because a few guys that aren’t projected to do much end up having big seasons.
Could Rodriguez be one of those guys for the Pittsburgh Pirates?
A better question for the Bucs is which Rodriguez are they going to get this season, the 2015 version that produced a .642 OPS or the guy who set career highs in 2017 with an .859 OPS?
Everyone know Rodriguez’s story by now and who knows if he would be succeeding in a potential everyday job in Atlanta had the car wreck not happened?
The 2017 season was a wash for Rodriguez and while it did provide one memorable moment, nothing can really be taken from it considering he only had 132 at bats and was never 100 percent healthy.
What can the Pirates expect from a healthy Rodriguez in 2018 though?
My guess would be somewhere In between.
He may not ever have a season like in 2016 where he slashed .270/.349/.510 with 18 homers and 56 RBI. If you remember, a lot of that production came in September where he was receiving everyday at bats. That may not be the case this year.
Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle will find Rodriguez plenty of at bats as long as he produces. If Rodriguez reverts to his 2015 form and puts up .246/.281/.362 numbers then he can’t be much more than a defensive replacement on this team.
Call me crazy, but I expect more from Rodriguez though.
Rodriguez can play every position but pitcher and catcher, so he likely will move around this season as the Bucs expect him to excel in his super utility role And who knows, you may even see Rodriguez on the mound or behind the plate one of these days as well.
The one thing you know if that you are going to get a professional days work in from Rodriguez and in this day and age that says a lot.
He may not be the most talented, the fastest, or strongest but few have the passion that Rodriguez brings to the park every day.
If Rodriguez hits .250-.260 with 15 or more homers, most people should be thrilled with that. Just look back one year and see how bad the Bucs bench performed.
Rodriguez also has value of being a vocal leader on a team that desperately needs one.
He’s had a nice spring and even has taker youngster Cole Tucker under his wing in Bradenton.
With what Rodriguez brings to the team defensively, not only being versatile, but being good at every position in the field is invaluable.
Now if he could duplicate the success he had in 2016 with the bat and the Pirates will have a nice asset on their hands.
A guy like Rodriguez you can’t necessarily measure all of his value by numbers.
But he’s healthy and he’s worked hard to get ready for the season.
Rodriguez learned after the 2016 season that you can’t take this game for granted so I expect him to do everything in his power to have a good season.
Every team needs a guy willing to do the little things to make his team succeed.
That’s Rodriguez in a nutshell.
As Opening Day approaches, it will be interesting to see what kind of production Rodriguez can give this team with his bat.
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