Pirates catcher Endy Rodríguez underwent reconstructive surgery on his UCL Tuesday, an injury that will sideline him 10 to 12 months, which includes the entirety of the 2024 season.
According to a release by the team, Rodríguez injured himself during an at-bat while swinging in winter ball in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 13. After multiple examinations to evaluate the severity of the injury, the surgery on his right elbow was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
The news, first reported here on DK Pittsburgh Sports by Dejan Kovacevic and myself, is a tough blow for both Rodríguez and the Pirates, both of whom expected the team's top prospect from last year to take a step forward in his first full big-league season. Instead, the team will be without their primary catcher from the last two months of last season.
Rodríguez slashed .220/.284/.328 with three home runs and 13 RBIs over 57 games last season in the majors.
Rodríguez suffered an elbow injury in April while with Class AAA Indianapolis that landed him on the injured list, but he was able to make a recovery and did not report any further soreness with the elbow as the season progressed.
Without Rodríguez, the Pirates' other catcher options on the roster are Jason Delay, Ali Sánchez -- who signed a split contract this winter -- and, perhaps most intriguingly, Henry Davis.
The Pirates went into the offseason reaffirming that Davis' focus this winter was going to be at catcher, and while they couldn't have foreseen Rodríguez's injury, it does open the door for Davis to try to claim the position he played in college. Davis caught just two innings in the majors last year. I recently took a look at Davis' defensive prospects for a Mound Visit.
Of the team's other options, Sánchez has seven games of major-league experience under his belt, while Delay served as the team's primary backup for most of last year. Delay also received a large portion of the team's starts in 2022 due to a rash of injuries among their catchers.
No matter who takes the catcher job, losing Rodríguez is a major blow to a team that is hoping to take the leap to being competitive in 2024. Without one of their top young players -- not to mention one of the emotional cores to the clubhouse -- that will be much more difficult.