Twins Daily's Top 20 Minnesota Twins Prospects: #2 Emmanuel Rodriguez

I saw him once at AAA. Similar skillset to Julien. Please have him work on breaking ball recognition. This question at the end of the article sums up my thoughts. 

-Do you think Rodriguez’s approach can work or does he need to make adjustments to avoid becoming the next Edouard Julien?

Sooner or later he'll have to make that change at the MLB level. IMO sooner is better even if it delays his calling up. Larnach? has adjusted, Wallner? kind of, Julien? no, Emma? IMO he can adjust & still have the power. Looking forward for him to make that final adjustment & make a big splash for the Twins this year.

Do you think Rodriguez’s approach can work or does he need to make adjustments to avoid becoming the next Edouard Julien?

Such a ridiculous statement, Julien put up a 130 OPS+ as a rookie and had a bad second year (not the first nor the last player this has and will happen to) and we have no idea if he turns into the player he was as a rookie, second year or somewhere in between.

Larnach, AK, Gordon, and others have never put up a 130+, would it be a disappointment if EROD put a rookie year like Julien and never seen the bigs again, absolutely, but 99% of minor league players will never do that. 

Can we talk about our hopes and dreams with Erod without denigrating Julien?

Emma & Julien had simular approaches. Julien was ignored while in the MiLB. So he got by, by not having to adjust & had success his rookie season. His sophomore year the league was ready for him & he had a lot of trouble adjusting. Everybody knows Emma, they'll be ready for him when he comes up. So he'll have to make those changes now, that's the name of the game, adjusting. Umpires won't be easy on him.

Rodriguez plays better defense than Julien so he might still provide value as he makes adjustments at the plate.

I think 2024 is a perfect year for Rodriguez to bounce between AAA and the major leagues whenever Buxton goes on the injured list.

I'm pumped and excited for Emma, but I think we should pump the breaks a bit, especially with an MLB debut this year. He only had a handful of AAA at bats which went poorly. He did well in AA but didn't have even a half season there. He has to play a full year before we know what he's capable of. The near 30 percent strikeout rate is concerning, as is his inability to hit off speed stuff. We have seen guys like Larnach overcome this, it just took a few years. I think Erod will be a great outfielder for us for a lot of years, I just don't think we should force a debut until he's ready.

First thing I thought of was .... wondering how many Twins minor league prospects OPS over 1.000 and play outstanding defense?

I have added comments regarding EmRod for two plus years on TD. My concerns before last season referenced the number of plate appearances where Rodriguez displayed a seeming disinterest, almost always due to the score of the game. This was strictly observational. Last summer Emmanuel displayed his talents on a more consistent basis. Yes, there is patience and swing and miss in his game, If one wants to compare ER to a current Twin, the player would be Matt Wallner. They had similar performances at Wichita, I believe. However, ER and MW are only similar at the plate. I think the comparison to Julien is off the mark. Defensively, the two could not be more different and while Julien can muscle some balls deep for HR and XBH, ER has light tower power, an easy 400 foot bomb. Emmanuel is an outfielder with an excellent glove (read what Eric Longenhagen at Fangraphs says about his defense), a strong accurate arm, and really good wheels on the bases and in the field. The Twins absolutely need some help with defense. While MLB pitchers may force him to make adjustments at the plate, I doubt whether Rodriguez will shrink from the challenge. This is a time when I miss Calvin. Among others, Rod Carew was put into the lineup against the wishes of the manager and others at a time when owners and GM's were usually hands off. EmRod is ready now.

34 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Rodriguez is supposed to be a big-time prospect, the kind you insert and and expect to thrive like Royce Lewis. Can Baldelli resist the urge to strictly platoon him when he arrives with the big club?

I'm not a Rocco hater, but if the Twins are going to bring up their best hitting prospects, I don't think they should be protected to the extreme. The #1 prospect is also a left handed hitter with even a better pedigree than Emma. It would be a shame to have both become platoon options.

A competent manager would not platoon players who hit well against pitchers throwing from either side. A competent GM would immediately step in if platooning occurred. The Twins are in serious trouble if that were to happen to either of Rodriguez or Jenkins.

36 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Rodriguez is supposed to be a big-time prospect, the kind you insert and and expect to thrive like Royce Lewis. Can Baldelli resist the urge to strictly platoon him when he arrives with the big club?

I'm not a Rocco hater, but if the Twins are going to bring up their best hitting prospects, I don't think they should be protected to the extreme. The #1 prospect is also a left handed hitter with even a better pedigree than Emma. It would be a shame to have both become platoon options.

I think Kepler might be our best example of what Rocco does if he gets a lefty hitting OF who provides great defense, right? If so, I have hopes that both of our top 2 prospects will get longer looks compared to some of our other young hitters.

47 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Rodriguez plays better defense than Julien so he might still provide value as he makes adjustments at the plate.

Looks like a few more picked up on this (Tony too), but I was going to mention this too.  Why compare a stud OF and a strong runner to an infielder who has never been "okay" with the glove and is pretty slow?  I'm excited about Emmanuel because of all of his tools, not just his hitting.  (Although his hitting does look pretty good, potentially in a Wallner mold for early impact as a rookie.)

18 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

If they think he's close I'd like to see him on the opening day roster and let him do his learning on the job. Even when he struggles. Assuming those struggles aren't early-2024 Wallner level struggles. If you don't think he'll be completely overwhelmed, give him the Jackson Chourio/Merrill treatment. Let him struggle early. Give him 2 months of hitting at the bottom of the order and dialing in his approach with the hope that things start to click by June. Then by the second half of the season you have your middle of the order star blossoming and come playoff time you may have your "face of the franchise" type piece you're hoping for.

The Twins are more than willing to let their over-the-hill veterans struggle for months on end with the hope that they can reach their ceiling of "mediocre at best" by the time August or September rolls around. I'd like to see them do it with their high ceiling youngsters instead. Emma is a good place to start.

I don't think there's much for him to learn at AAA. The pitchers can challenge him better than the guys at A+ and AA, but not like the major leaguers. For him to truly lock in his approach and balance out the patience and aggression he's going to need he's going to have to do it against major league pitching. Let him start the process now. Recognizing off-speed isn't Julien's problem, hitting it is. Julien's approach is broken because he can't hit off-speed stuff so he doesn't swing at it. If Emma also can't hit off-speed stuff then his approach doesn't matter. If Emma can hit major league breaking stuff his approach will work itself out. His contact rate is what the question is. Not the approach. Can he make enough contact when he swings? If he does the rest will work itself out.

Exactly all of this. If the Twins are not going to play a potential difference maker like Emmanuel, maybe they should trade him and let him play in another system. After watching dozens of his plate appearances, my conclusion is that he has nothing left to learn in the minor leagues.

Who is number 1????

The suspense!!

The drama!!

He's a really impressive talent, and while the defense might not hold up in CF for long...he's certainly able to cover it effectively right now. The big key for him is going to be on his ability to make contact consistently enough, especially on off-speed pitches. His patience and good strike zone recognition will help him keep from chasing too many sliders outside the zone, but he's going to have to be able to handle the ones that stay inside it to live up to his potential as a hitter.

the other question for him is health, as it is with so many Twins prospects. I'm not going to hold 7 games in AAA in September against him when he basically hadn't played since May because of the thumb injury (which as noted still required an off-season procedure). but even so, he still put up a .400 OBP. I suspect he'll handle AAA pitching just fine, especially with the electronic strike zone.

I think if he were RH he might be on the opening day roster as a 4th OF who played as much as the starters (resting Buxton, platooning with Larnach & Wallner against LHP, resting Wallner/Larnach, etc). I'm not sure the Twins will be comfortable with 3 LH OF, so he might not come up until someone picks up a knock. They also might want to see him get some reps in against AAA pitchers since he missed so much time last season. I wouldn't complain too much if they go that way, but I'd also be fine with them being more aggressive with him and bringing him up early.

What I don't want to see is anyone else being the next man up in the OF/DH slot in 2025 unless Emma just isn't healthy again. There's no one else this close and this talented with as much potential impact as a hitter in AAA (with all due respect to Payton Eeles).

he a huge talent. He'll have to make some adjustments and not be too passive at the plate. He'll need to show he can make consistent hard contact on more than just fastballs. But he looks more than capable. very exciting player.

I generally lack patience when it comes to slow rolling development of prospects when they clearly show signs of being mlb ready. No one is a finished product and young men need to be promoted and play until they fail. The faster they fail, the faster they are forced to adjust and up their skillset. Coddling them doesn’t seem to work. Erod should be on the opening day roster as the starting LF. Let’s get this party started, its inevitable.

All indications are that this winter is going to be an interesting one.  I cringe when I think of an outfield with Larnach and Wallner on the corners, especially when Buxton isn't in center. 

Considering most moves the Twins make could be via trades, I wonder if one of Larnach or Wallner be on their way out?  Would sure help their overall defense if only one of that pair is out there come opening day.  Should that happen, the likelihood of ERod making the opening day roster just got better.