Before Henry Davis, there was Endy Rodriguez. Before the hype of Paul Skenes and the promise of Konnor Griffin and Bubba Chandler, the Pittsburgh Pirates had already found their catcher of the future. A dynamic athlete behind the plate, Rodriguez crushed 25 home runs as a 22-year-old in the minors, quickly becoming a cornerstone of the franchise's long-awaited rebuild.
When he arrived in the big leagues in 2023, he brought more than just power—he brought energy and swagger to a clubhouse desperate for a spark. The Pirates believed they had found their man. Then, in an instant, everything changed.
During a seemingly routine swing in the Arizona Fall League in late 2023, Rodriguez shredded his left elbow. The injury cost him the entire 2024 season. When he finally returned in early 2025, he found himself in an unfamiliar role, moonlighting at first base. Then, his right elbow gave out. The setbacks were brutal, and as he rehabbed, the Pirates kept moving forward without him.
The fear of being left behind was real. That's what made Thursday's moment so special. Standing on second base after his first big-league hit in nearly a year during a 7-2 win over Colorado, Rodriguez let himself breathe. It felt good to be remembered.
The team he rejoined this week—called up when Joey Bart landed on the 10-day injured list with a left foot infection—looks nothing like the one he left last June. The future the Pirates have been promising since Ben Cherington took over as general manager in late 2019 has finally arrived. At 24-20, Pittsburgh is firmly in the mix a quarter of the way through the season, anchored by perhaps the best young pitching staff in baseball, led by the sublime Paul Skenes, and an offense built to compete.
Rodriguez's place in this new reality, however, is far from certain. It wasn't always this way. "He's a special player," said pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski, who came up through the minors with Rodriguez before being reunited on Thursday. "I want to say he got swept under the rug a little bit, but he was like a superstar coming up."
Acquired from the New York Mets as part of a three-team trade that sent pitcher Joe Musgrove to San Diego, Rodriguez was once named Pittsburgh's Minor League Player of the Year. Now, he's just hoping to stick around. For a player who was once the face of a rebuild, that's a fight worth watching.