photo: Tim Tebow and Jorge Rodriguez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
In our thirst for success on the athletic fields, we sometimes lose sight of the countless stories of the young people who are living out their dreams in the process.
Unfortunately, too often these hopes remain unfulfilled.
So it is for a promising young pitcher from San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Jorge Rodriguez. The 24-year old, a member of the St. Louis Cardinals system, succumbed to bone cancer after a year-long battle, leaving behind a wife and son.
The news was first shared by the State College Spikes via Twitter on Thursday morning, as communicated by Rodriguez’ local host family.
At this point, no details on memorial or funeral arrangements are available. There may be medical bills involved, so I am hoping there will be a fund to benefit his family. Stay tuned for specifics.
Rodriguez turned 24 this past Sunday, March 18.
A right-hander, Rodriguez was signed at the age of 17 by St. Louis in February 2012. In his five years active in the system, he first pitched two years in the Dominican Summer League, followed by a season each in the Gulf Coast League, New York-Penn League and finally for the full-season Class-A Peoria Chiefs in 2016.
In 2014, Rodriguez led the GCL with two complete games and tied for first with one shutout and went on to receive The Cardinal Nation’s GCL Cardinals Starting Pitcher of the Year award. Jumping over a level to State College in 2015, Rodriguez went on to pick up his second consecutive TCN Starting Pitcher of the Year honors, this time for the short-season Class-A Spikes.
A late-season move into the Chiefs rotation led to a 23 1/3 consecutive scoreless streak in August 2016. As a result, the Cardinals organization named Rodriguez their system-wide Minor League Pitcher of the Month for the final period of the season. We did the same here at The Cardinal Nation.
In the photo above, Rodriguez faced off against Mets prospect Tim Tebow during the 2016 fall Instructional League at Port St. Lucie, Florida. He seemed poised to break into our Cardinals top prospect rankings for the first time.
Especially with this momentum, it was highly unusual that Rodriguez was not among the players in the Cardinals 2017 minor league spring training camp. When I inquired about his absence, I was told it was a personal matter, which I respected. He did not play all season.
Rodriguez’ all too brief career totals include a 16-11 record with a 2.60 ERA in 242 1/3 innings over 33 starts and 39 relief appearances. The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder struck out 213 and walked 90.
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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
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