Hector Rodriguez

Rodriguez reached Triple-A for the first time in 2025 and was added to the Reds' 40-man roster this offseason. He was promoted to Triple-A on July 18 after he slashed .298/.357/.481 with 12 home runs, six steals and a 13.9 percent strikeout rate in 82 games for Double-A Chattanooga. Rodriguez was understandably less productive at the highest level of the minors, as he slashed .260/.304/.405 with seven homers and nine steals in 53 games. A bat-first player who will likely end up in left field or at designated hitter, Rodriguez will have a high offensive bar to clear, but he has premium bat speed and contact ability. He is a very aggressive hitter (59.7 percent swing rate at Triple-A) who is still working on getting the ball in the air a bit more (flyball rates below 30 percent at Double-A and Triple-A). Still, Rodriguez won't turn 22 until March, so he's ahead of schedule. He will always be more valuable in batting average leagues than on-base percentage leagues, and he probably won't run as much in the majors as he did in the upper minors (15 steals last year). Read Past Outlooks