MACK - Top 28 Prospects - #12- C - Yovanny Rodriguez

 

The excitement about the Mets' prospect pipeline has been building year over year as the team improves their domestic and international scouting.  Many of the Mets' picks are being discussed throughout baseball, so Mack has boiled it down to the top 28 to give the readers a glimpse into the team's future.  This series will run for 28 days, counting down from #28 to #1.  The entire list can be viewed by clicking "2026 Top 28 Prospects" on the top menu bar.

12.    Yovanny Rodriguez

2025:                DSL TEAMS – 168-PA, 39-K, 2-HR, 26-RBI, .331/.446/.493/.939

GROK -

Yovanny Rodriguez is an 18-year-old catching prospect (born November 7, 2006, in Guarenas, Venezuela) in the New York Mets organization.

He stands 6'0" and weighs 175 pounds, batting and throwing right-handed.

Signed as an international free agent on January 15, 2024, for a franchise-record $2.85 million bonus, Rodriguez was ranked as MLB Pipeline's No. 6 overall international prospect in the 2024 class and the top catcher available.

Scouts praised his advanced skills for his age, with early buzz comparing his arm strength to elite MLB catchers like J.T. Realmuto—pop times on throws to second base already at big-league levels.

 The Mets saw him as a potential two-way star: strong defensively with offensive upside. He drew interest from multiple teams but committed to New York, where officials were immediately impressed by his bat control, contact skills, and projectable power as he adds strength.

moved stateside to the Florida Complex League (FCL) for the "bridge league" (extended instructional play).

Hit: 55 – Advanced bat-to-ball skills, consistent contact, and plate discipline. 47.8% pull rate.

Power: 50 – Present gap power; projects for more as he matures physically.

Run: 55 – Above-average speed for a catcher, shown in 4 SB.

Field: 40 – Raw

Arm: 60 – Elite strength, 70-grade by some scouts

Overall, he's a high-floor catcher with All-Star potential on both sides of the ball, often compared to Francisco Alvarez in his early Mets days (advanced for age, power/arm combo).

ETA: 2028-2029.

    

10-28-2025  -  MACK

Yovanny Rodriguez – okay, let’s get to my #1 Mets catching prospects. Signed in 2024 for a record breaking $2.85mil, Y-Rod played 2025 as an FCL-Metman, and stat lined at the rate of 136-AB, .331, 2-HR, 26-RBI, .939-OPS. Is this good? Normally, only 136 at-bats would warrant a come-back, but this uber-prospect is not going to wait until summer to play his first game. This is your RK-St. Lucie starter on opening day and could easily end the season in Kings County. Every team wants this guy in a package, but he’s not going anywhere. Could someday make Mets fans forget that other Francisco guy.

 

11-4-2025

Tom Brennan/MM

23. Yovanny Rodriguez

“Yo Rod” at age 18 hit better than Elian Pena in the DSL:

 .331/.446/.493. 

The catcher, like Elian, also got a huge bonus.  Not just quite as huge.

I want to see him crush stateside ball in 2026 as a 19 year old.

Yo, Yo.

 

11-7-2025

Just Baseball

https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/new-york-mets-top-15-prospects/

Yovanny Rodriguez – C – (DSL): A $2.85 million pay day and rave reviews from scouts created plenty of hype for the Venezuelan catcher, but he stumbled out of the gate in his pro debut. His impressive defensive skill set did not immediately translate while posting a .715 OPS at the DSL in 2024.

This had the Mets keep the 18-year-old in the DSL for another year before bring him stateside, and he produced much better results in 2025. Rodriguez hit .331/.446/.493, with a .939 OPS. Rodriguez has the defensive tools to be a big league catcher, and the improvements with the bat were encouraging.

 

12-6-2025

Angry Mike/MM

YOVANNY RODRIGUEZ -> He might not be as closely watched as the others listed above, but I have spent way too much time tracking his progress to quit now. I need to know if he is going to live up to his $2.8M signing bonus or not.

-> Can he accelerate his development to nullify requiring 2 years in the DSL? Will he be able to handle a full-season assignment like Pena? Can he continue improving his defense which initially was supposed to be an asset?

 

1-15-2026

Angry Mike/MM

Yovanny Rodriguez holds the distinction of being the I.F.A. acquisition with the third highest signing bonus ($2.8 Million) ever awarded and prior to Elian Pena and soon to be signed Wandy Asigen, Rodriguez was the highest ranked I.F.A prospect (#7 MLB Pipeline) the Mets had ever signed. Rodriguez produced mixed results during his first season in the D.S.L., but he finished last summer hitting for both power and average, providing a glimpse as to why he was such a highly ranked prospect in his class. Rodriguez was sent back to the D.S.L. in 2025, and looked like a completely different player entirely on both sides of the ball.

Rodriguez is expected to make his stateside debut this season with the Florida Complex League squad, and depending on how quickly he adapts to the higher level of competition, he has an outside chance to finish his season with Port St. Lucie. The Mets will be much more conservative with Rodriguez compared to their other young phenom Elian Pena who will also be making his stateside debut this season. Rodriguez remains an exciting young talent, who represents the next wave of impact prospects playing in the lower levels of the minor leagues.

Tom Brennan: When You’re a Met, You’re a Met All the Way; Benge Ready? Shantz

THE METS PICKED THEMSELVES UP A #63 IN FREDDY P

 

Queens Side Story theme song about its fans:

“When you’re a Met, you’re a Met all the way, 

from your first Bo Bichette to your last Alzolay.”

Mets fans are extremely loyal, and extremely loyal people can tend to overrate their players. But, sometimes, they can underrate them.

An MLB.com article by Jeffry Lutz spells out more objectively(?) which players on each team are in the MLB Top 100. 

Here’s what he wrote about the players on your favorite team, the Mets:

Mets (4): 

Juan Soto (6), Francisco Lindor (11), Bo Bichette (48), Freddy Peralta (63)

New York added a fourth member to this list on Wednesday night after acquiring righty Freddy Peralta from the Brewers. Peralta gives the Mets a steady presence at the top of the rotation, leading the NL with 17 wins in 2025 and accumulating 10 bWAR over the past three seasons

The Mets lost two of last year’s top 100 after trading Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers and losing slugger Pete Alonso to the Orioles in free agency. But they picked one up in Bichette, who will help make up for the loss of Alonso and be part of a revamped infield along with Lindor and fellow offseason pickups Marcus Semien (acquired for Nimmo) and free agent Jorge Polanco.

Regardless of Alonso’s middle-of-the-order presence, once Soto arrived in free agency last offseason, the Mets’ offense began, and will continue, to revolve around him. A slow start in 2025 kept the spotlight away from Soto for a while, but when you looked up in say, June, he was still having a typical Juan Soto season. It ended with an MLB-best 127 walks as Soto led the NL with a .396 on-base percentage. He also, somehow, had an NL-tying 38 stolen bases despite never before stealing more than 12. Oh, and there were the career-high 43 homers.

So, there you have it.

Who is Juan Soto behind? 

Ohtani is #1, Judge is #2, Bobby Witt is #3, Raleigh is #4. 

Makes sense.  So far, so good.

Jose Ramirez is #5? Ahead of Soto? 

That’s a no-no. Soto is better.

If I could only pick one of the two, I’d pick the guy whose name rhymes with photo.

Other players of interest in the top 100?  

Alonso (33), Crow (40), deGrom (50), and Edwin (83).  

No, Nimmo is not in the top 100 any longer.

His favorite disco song, though, remains DO THE HUSTLE.

Who is barking at Soto’s heels? 

Paul Skenes at #7. Loud barks.

Aggressive A’s slugger Brent Rooker is #91.  His more tentative MLB counterpart, Mark Vientos, is nowhere near the top 100. 

Hmmm…

Lastly:

The Dodgers have EIGHT players in the top 100.  SIX in the top 50.

OK, you can SHUDDER now. I just did.

 

“JOHNNY CARSON” BENGE

BENGE READY??

“How could Johnny Carson Benge be ready when he only hit .178 and 103 plate appearances in AAA?”

 “C’mon!!! He ain’t ready!”

That seems to be a reasonable question, and perhaps a reasonable conclusion….until one takes a deeper dive.

In his first 15 AAA plate appearances, Carson got on base six times. That’s a .400 OBP.

In the last of those games, he got hit by a pitch and was out from August 16 through August 27. He had a hit in each of his first two games back. But something was wrong.

Including those first two games back, he went on a five for 29 swoon.

Then it got worse he followed that five for 29 with an 0 for 24 plunge. WATCH OUT BELOW!

Carson and then write the ship by getting on base eight out of his last 25 times over the last 6 games to conclude the season.

I therefore firmly believe that that hit by pitch was nasty and that he didn’t recover from it to 100% for a while.

Another guy that happened to was double-quarter-pounder-with-cheese Pete Alonso back in 2023.

Pete got badly nailed by a boring-in mighty fast fastball in the wrist/hand area. The cognoscenti thought he’d be out 3-4 weeks. He shocked everyone as he missed just 11 days, rushing back if for no other reason than Pete viscerally hates sitting on the bench EVER. He should not have been so RUSSIAN, as it turned out. 

Like Carson, he badly spiraled post-return, going 12 for 88 in his next bunch of games.

So, I am only focusing on the last 6 Benge AAA games.  Those healthy games tell me he is further along that his AAA slash line in August and September would indicate.

Remember, stats need to be drilled down on to get a clear picture.

THE CLEAR PICTURE, TO ME?  “HEEERRE’S CARSON!”

And… I normally do not like signing 35-year-olds. But lefty hitting Mike Tauchman, who is just turning 35, has had a .360 on base percentage his last three seasons, and he had a good fielding year last year.  1.9 WAR in the equivalent of 2/3 of a full season of playing time. 

In 2025:

Player #1: .263/.356/.400. Tauchman.

Player #2: .262/.324/.436.  Nimmo.

Pretty close, huh.  So, signing him to a minor league deal?  Why not.

LAST MAN STANDING

Saw this on FB:

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧" 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠:  

𝐁𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐳 

He is the last surviving player from the Philadelphia Athletics and the last living player to have played under legendary manager Connie Mack. He is the final surviving MLB player who debuted in the 1940s, and he is also the oldest (100) living former MVP in Major League Baseball.” 

Born September 26, 2025. He went 24-7 in 1952. Stood just 5’6”.

Sadly, Bill Mazeroski passed away yesterday at age 89. He made the Hall of Fame despite far lighter stats than Keith Hernandez. Career 36.5 WAR. Keith had 60.4 WAR. David Wright had 49.1 WAR in far fewer plate appearances.

Maz only scored 769 runs, while driving in 864, with just 27 steals.

Voting writers are biased. But Maz was a fine player nonetheless.

.

RVH - Why the 2026 Mets Are Built to Win Different Games

 

We’ve spent weeks debating this from every angle. Power versus contact. Alonso versus “the model.” Emotion versus math. The argument hasn’t been short on passion. What it’s been short on is finality.

The 2026 Mets didn’t fail to replace Pete Alonso. They made a conscious decision to replace the offense that depended on him. What they’ve built instead isn’t louder or scarier or more highlight-friendly. It’s simply more likely to score runs when it matters.

To understand the 2026 roster, you have to look at the "Statistical Ghost" of 2025.

The Autopsy: A Top-10 Offense That Couldn't Close

On paper, the 2025 Mets were a juggernaut. They finished 6th in MLB in OPS (.753) and 9th in total runs (766). They had the power (5th in HRs) and the discipline (9th in K%). Yet, they finished 83–79 and missed the postseason.

The breakdown occurred in the structural efficiency of those runs:

2025 Mets: The Macro Efficiency Gap

Metric	2025 Value	MLB Rank	The Diagnostic
OPS	.753	6th	Elite production engine.
Home Runs	224	5th	High-ceiling power.
Runs Scored	766	9th	Top-tier scoring volume.
Innings Scored %	20.2%	11th	"Clumpy" scoring; lack of consistent pressure.
Clutch (FanGraphs)	-1.82	28th	One of the lowest high-leverage scores in history.
Record Trailing After 8	0–70	30th	Total System Failure.

Source: Fangraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead

They were a "front-runner" system. They could beat a team 10–2, but they couldn't find the one run needed to turn a 3–4 deficit into a 5–4 win. They were the only team in MLB to not record a single 9th-inning comeback win.

Redefining “Clutch”: From Power to Probability

Across Mets Nation, the question has been framed narrowly: How do you replace 40 home runs? David Stearns answered a different question: How do you reduce the empty innings that lead to 0–70?

The new core represents a deliberate shift away from fragility. This isn’t a bet on contact for contact’s sake. It’s a bet on probability under pressure. Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, and Jorge Polanco were targeted because they produce something useful when the game tightens.

The Stability Floor: 3-Year Averages (2023–2025)

Rather than focusing on peak seasons or highlight outcomes, this isolates durable situational performance.

The New Core (The "Closer" Profile)

Player	RISP AVG	RISP OPS	High-Leverage K%	Clutch Score
Jorge Polanco	.294	.843	20.6%	+1.76
Bo Bichette	.322	.854	17.1%	+1.45
Marcus Semien	.260	.759	15.2%	+0.88
GROUP AVG	.292	.819	17.6%	+1.36

Source: Fangraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead

The Previous Core (The "Front-Runner" Profile)

Player	RISP AVG	RISP OPS	High-Leverage K%	Clutch Score
Pete Alonso	.271	.831	24.8%	-0.92
Brandon Nimmo	.281	.855	22.3%	-0.45
Jeff McNeil	.257	.712	13.5%	-0.12
GROUP AVG	.270	.799	20.2%	-0.50

Source: Fangraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead

The Situational Delta

Key Indicator	Delta	Strategic Impact
RISP Batting Avg	+22 Points	Higher probability of converting scoring opportunities.
High-Leverage K%	-2.6%	Fewer "automatic outs" in the final three innings.
Clutch Rating	+1.86 Points	A total reversal of the late-game "freezing" effect.

Source: Fangraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead

Beyond the Box Score: Why the Trade-Off Works

Situational hitting is the engine, but the broader case for the swap rests on four supporting pillars.

1. Defensive Stability: Run prevention was the hidden tax of the prior core. By adding Marcus Semien (92nd-percentile range) and stabilizing the infield, the Mets convert borderline balls into outs and reduce stress on a young pitching staff.

2. Positional Optionality: The old core was fixed. The new core is modular. Polanco’s flexibility and Bichette’s defensive range allow Carlos Mendoza to manage matchups and fatigue without creating production sinkholes.

3. Financial Liquidity: Moving off Nimmo’s long-tail deal and avoiding a massive extension for a high-variance power hitter shifts risk away from back-end decline and toward short-term certainty.

4. Professional Gravity: Semien brings championship habits—durability, preparation, and daily competitiveness—that stabilize a clubhouse transitioning from volatility to consistency.

The Hidden Pressure Point: Two Outs

With Lindor and Soto setting the table and Bichette providing immediate protection, Jorge Polanco becomes a disproportionate run-creation force. His recent two-out and RISP splits are extreme—the profile of a hitter who doesn’t expand the zone and doesn’t give away plate appearances when pitchers are trying to escape. In practical terms, rallies no longer die quietly.

Final Verdict

The Mets didn’t just remove power. They removed fragility.

This lineup is designed to convert opportunity rather than wait for it. You can’t pitch around Soto. You can’t relax after Bichette. And with the "Clutch" metrics of this new core, the 9th inning is no longer a graveyard.

The spectacular has been replaced by the sustainable. Over 162 games — and especially against elite pitching — that trade-off usually wins.