Sean Rodriguez
From BR Bullpen
Sean John Rodriguez
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
- High School G. Holmes Braddock High School, Miami Coral Park High School
- Debut April 19, 2008
[edit] Biographical Information
Sean Rodriguez hit .240/?/.280 with a team-leading four steals for the USA youth team that won the Gold in the 2001 World Youth Championship. Sean was the regular second baseman with Jeff Flaig at short.
Rodriguez was selected by the Anaheim Angels in the third round of the 2003 amateur draft. He had hit .413 as a high school senior and slugged .825; Baseball America picked him to their third team All-America high school team. Rodriguez debuted with the AZL Angels the same year and hit .269/.332/.380. He began 2004 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels (.250/.333/.393) and was demoted to the Provo Angels (.338/.486/.569) when the short-season leagues began play. He was the MVP of the Pioneer League, the All-Star shortstop, led the league in put-outs at short (123), errors (27) and double plays (52); on offense, he was hit by the most pitches (15), 10th in average and tied for 12th in homers. Provo won the title in large part thanks to Rodriguez.
Back in Cedar Rapids in 2005, Sean batted .250/.371/.422 with 29 doubles, 14 homers and 86 runs. Against left-handers, he only hit .206. Sean bounced back in 2006 with 291 total bases, the most in the minor leagues. He hit .301/.377/.545 for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes with 24 home runs and 15 steals in 18 tries. It was one year after a star turn by Rancho Cucamonga's prior shortstop, Brandon Wood. Promoted to the Arkansas Travelers, Sean batted .354/.462/.662 in 18 games, with 16 runs, and he briefly appeared in AAA for the Salt Lake Bees. Rodriguez finished 8th in the California League in average and made the league All-Star team at DH, though his 29 errors tied Skip Adams for the most by a shortstop in the loop. Baseball America rated him the #12 prospect in the league that year.
In 2007, Sean hit .254 with 17 homers and for 73 RBIs for Arkansas. He began the next year with the Salt Lake Bees, hitting .333 with 4 home runs in 13 games before being called up by the Angels and making his big league debut on April 19th. Rodriguez batted 8th and played second base in his big league debut. His first at-bat came with two on and one out against Jarrod Washburn; Rodriguez grounded out to Adrian Beltre, advancing both runners. In the 6th, he lined a single to left off of Washburn for his first major league hit.
Sean's father Johnny Rodriguez is a minor league hitting coach.
Sources: 2002-2007 Baseball Almanacs
