With analytics and advanced metrics able to measure so many things in today’s game, one thing they still haven’t found a way to quantify is the heart of a baseball player, and their ability to deal with challenges as they arise.
For Nashville Sounds catcher Ramon Rodriguez, that ability to handle adversity and keep moving forward has proved to be invaluable in getting him to this point in his career, and is what has him just one phone call away from the big leagues.
Originally drafted by the Dodgers in the 30th round in 2016 out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Rodriguez grew up wanting to pattern his game after players like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. But he realized quickly that a career at shortstop wasn’t in the cards, and he made the move behind the plate, where his sturdy frame and leadership skills would be on full display.
Rodriguez spent his first five professional seasons in the Dodgers organization, advancing as far as High-A Rancho Cucamonga by the end of the 2019 season, where he hit .333 in limited action.
Heading into the 2020 season, Rodriguez was hoping to continue building on that success, but when a global pandemic struck, wiping out the season before it ever got started, that threw a wrench in his plans.
Unfortunately for Rodriguez, that lost season resulted in the Dodgers cutting ties with the then-21-year-old, when they released him in July.
His released proved to just be a temporary setback however, as Rodriguez landed on his feet, when he latched on with the Baltimore Orioles prior to the start of the 2021 season.
Rodriguez spent the next three seasons catching in the O’s system, reaching Triple-A for several short stints in both 2022 and 2023.
When he became a free agent following the 2023 season, the Brewers came calling, agreeing to term on a contract just a few days before Christmas.
Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take a few steps forward, and that’s what Rodriguez did, when Milwaukee assigned him to High-A Wisconsin in 2024, where he received regular playing time with the Timber Rattlers, participating in a career-high 74 games.
He impressed enough there, that the Brewers moved him to Double-A to begin last season, but after getting off to a torrid start with the Biloxi Shuckers, hitting .359 through his first 21 games, adversity struck again.
During a game against Montgomery on May 16th, Rodriguez ruptured his Achilles tendon, ending what was a very promising start to his year.
Despite another setback, Rodriguez attacked his rehab head on and returned to full health, showing the Brewers enough that they invited him to big league camp this spring as one of their non-roster Spring Training invitees.
Rodriguez was assigned to Triple-A Nashville to begin the 2026 season, where he has paired with highly-rated prospect Jeferson Quero to form one of the top catching tandems in the International League.
Through 15 games with the Sounds thus far, Rodriguez picked up where he left off prior to last year’s injury, and he has continued to rake, to the tune of a .347 average over his first 58 plate appearances, while also being trusted to handle a talented Nashville pitching staff.
Despite the injuries and disappointments that he has had to deal with in his career to this point, Rodriguez continues to battle, and now sits just a rung below his ultimate goal, of reaching the Major Leagues.
• Left-handed pitcher Brian Fitzpatrick became the latest addition to the Brewers’ big league bullpen, when he was promoted from Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday.
A tenth-round pick out of Rutgers in 2022, the 6’7” lefty was off to a strong start at Nashville, where he hadn’t allowed an earned run through his first ten appearances for the Sounds.
His success continued in his MLB debut, as he worked 1.1 scoreless innings of relief on Wednesday night, and he followed that up with another shutout frame on Thursday that included the first two Major League strikeouts of his career.
• Milwaukee’s offense should soon get a boost as well, as both outfielder Jackson Chourio and first baseman Andrew Vaughn joined the Nashville Sounds for rehab appearances.
Both players were in the lineup on Wednesday night, and again for game one of the team’s doubleheader on Thursday, and if all goes to plan, both Chourio and Vaughn could re-join the Brewers by early next week.
• A pair of Wisconsin Timber Rattlers picked up some hardware this past week, headlined by 2024 first-round pick Braylon Payne being named as the Midwest League Player of the Week.
Through 17 games for the Rattlers this season, Payne has an OPS of 1.097 with four doubles and six home runs, including three consecutive games with a home run from April 23rd – April 26th.
Payne and teammate Marco Dinges were also selected to MLB Pipeline’s Team of the Week, as the Timber Rattlers offense continued to dominate Midwest League pitching.
• Another batch of Brewers prospects will have a chance to get their season started tomorrow, as the Arizona Complex League opens play on Saturday. Milwaukee’s affiliate will travel to Peoria, where they’ll square off with the Padres. The ACL roster includes last year’s second-round pick Frank Cairone, who returned recently to Arizona after a scary offseason car accident, as well as some recent high-profile international outfield signees, Brailyn Antunez and Kenny Fenelon.
• The Brewers also trimmed a few lower-level players from their system in advance of the ACL season starting, releasing infielders Sharlisson De La Rosa, Kevin Ereu and Demetrio Nadal.
De La Rosa, who was signed by the Brewers out of the Dominican Republic just last year, spent last season in the Dominican Summer League, where he hit .236 over 22 games.
Ereu was one of Milwaukee’s big ticket signings out of Venezuela in 2023, when he inked a deal with the Brewers for $1.3 million, but after two seasons in the DSL and one in the complex league in Arizona, Ereu had a career average of just .183.
Nadal, who was a 2021 signee out of the Dominican, opened the year on the developmental list at Wilson, after splitting time between Carolina and the ACL in 2025, and had a career OPS of .762.
• After a bit of a slow start to the year, shortstop Cooper Pratt has been tearing the cover off the ball at Nashville lately. Over his past seven games, Pratt has posted an OPS of 1.443, going 10-for-21 with a double, two triples and a home run. He’s also walked seven times, while striking out just twice in that span.
• Outfielder Damon Keith has picked up where he left off after returning from the Injured List at Biloxi. Over his last seven contests with the Shuckers, Keith is slashing .381/.480/.810 with three doubles, two home runs and eight runs batted in.
• Nashville right-hander Logan Henderson continues to make his case for a return to Milwaukee, as he gets stretched out with the Sounds, going a season high five innings his last time out on Sunday. In five Triple-A appearances, Henderson is 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA. The 24-year-old hurler has held opposing hitters to a .190 average while striking out 26 batters over 17.2 innings of work.
With Fitzgerald moving up to Milwaukee and Will Childers landing on the injured list, Nashville’s bullpen took a little bit of a hit this past week, but the team did add some outfield depth, with the additions of Jordyn Adams, who was promoted from AA Biloxi, and Luis Matos, who joined the Sounds after being outrighted from Milwaukee.
After getting rained out on Tuesday, the Sounds picked up a win on Wednesday and then split a doubleheader on Thursday, as they moved their record to 16-14 on the year. After they wrap up their current series with Norfolk, Nasvhille goes back out on the road for six games in Louisville, against the Reds Triple-A affiliate.
Pitchers Cameron Wagoner and Nick Merkel both returned this week to help strengthen the Shuckers pitching staff. Wagoner, who hasn’t appeared in a game since 2023 due to injury, was brought up from extended spring training to make his season debut, while Merkel was activated off of the injured list, swapping places with RHP Patricio Aquino, who landed on the IL on Tuesday.
The Shuckers have dropped their last two games to Pensacola (Marlins), but remain just a half game out of first place in the Southern League South Division, with a 12-12 record. They begin the month of May with three more against the Blue Wahoos, before coming back home to start a six-game set with the Colombus Clingstones (Braves).
Utility-man Luiyin Alastre returned to Wisconsin from Low-A Wilson and 2025 second-round pick J.D. Thompson joined the Timber Rattlers from Extended this week. Thompson is scheduled to make his pro debut on Saturday when he takes the mound for the Rattlers. The two newest T-Rats will be taking the roster spots of pitcher Jesus Flores and infielder Daniel Guilarte, who were both placed on the 7-Day IL.
Wisconsin has dropped the first three games of their series against Quad Cities, with the River Bandits (Royals), averaging 11 runs per game. The Rattlers, who currently sit a half game behind the Bandits in the standings with a 13-9 record, will look to split the series with three more at home this week, before they travel to Peoria for a six game series against the Cardinals High-A squad.
And finally, at Class-A Wilson, right-handed pitcher Ayendy Bravo and catcher Luis Corobo were both sent down to the Arizona Complex League this week, with righty Jacob Morrison and catcher Kevin Garcia moving up to join the Warbirds. The 18-year-old Corobo had gotten off to a solid start to the year, hitting .273, but suffered what appeared to be a hamstring injury last week.
The Warbirds have dropped two of their first three games against Salem (Red Sox), and are currently in last place in the Carolina League’s North Division. They’ve got three more home contests against Salem, then hit the road for six games against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros) starting next Tuesday.