Only 22, Elmer Rodríguez isn’t old enough to remember the first two World Baseball Classics.
But the third and fourth installments, held in 2013 and 2017, are etched in the mind of the Yankees’ Puerto Rican pitching prospect. Rodríguez watched those Classics closely from his family’s countryside chicken farm in Trujillo Alto, rooting for other members of his homeland as they played their way into the finals both years.
Puerto Rico ultimately finished second each time after losing to the Dominican Republic and United States, respectively, but Rodríguez still recalls how “the whole island came together to support the team” in those tournaments.
Maybe, he thought, the island would cheer for him one day.
That day has arrived, as Rodríguez is set to start for Puerto Rico on Monday night. He will face Cuba, 2-0 in the WBC’s latest iteration, in what is truly a home game, as San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium is hosting.
With Puerto Rico also 2-0 and looking to maintain momentum after Darell Hernaiz crushed a 10th-inning, walk-off homer against Panama on Saturday, Rodríguez is set to live out a childhood dream in his own backyard.
“I imagined one day I wanted to do that,” the top-100 prospect recently said of the WBC. “I always wanted to have the opportunity to represent Puerto Rico one day. Thankfully, I’m able to do this.”
Monday’s outing will be Rodríguez’s official WBC debut, though he did pitch for Puerto Rico against the Red Sox – the team that drafted him in 2021 – in a spring training exhibition on March 3. Rodríguez looked sharp that afternoon, tossing three shutout innings while totaling one hit, two walks and two strikeouts.
“We’re going to have to deal with him at one point during his career,” Boston manager Alex Cora, whose club acquired catcher Carlos Narváez for Rodríguez in December 2024, said that day, per the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey.
Elmer Rodríguez twirls a 💎 against his former team while representing Puerto Rico.
MLB’s No. 82 prospect (@Yankees) strikes out a pair across three scoreless innings: pic.twitter.com/t6eEIscOrL
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 4, 2026
That start continued what has already been an impressive spring for Rodríguez, as the first-time invitee to big league camp previously allowed two earned runs over two games with the Yankees. He struck out five, walked one and permitted five hits across six innings while showing off a six-pitch repertoire that helped him shoot up the minor league ranks last season.
“Elmer’s got a large pitch package and can work his way around that arsenal early in games and then kind of refine it as he gets deeper into games and have a little more of a targeted plan,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said. “I think it’s just trying to figure out what the best mix is for him, being efficient in the zone, and generating some weak contact. Obviously, he generated quite a bit of miss during his time in High-A and Double-A, but Double-A was a smaller sample.”
As Blake alluded to, Rodríguez began his 2025 campaign at High-A before forcing his way to Double-A and earning a brief promotion to Triple-A for his last start of the regular season. The righty ended the year with a 2.58 ERA and a 29% strikeout rate over 150 total innings.
By the end of the offseason, Brian Cashman was including Rodríguez, as well as fellow top pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange, among the “young pups” who could impact the Yankees in 2026. Blake has reinforced that idea, stating that both farmhands are further ahead in their development than Cam Schlittler was at this point last year.
Like Lagrange, Rodríguez has only helped his case this spring, posting strong numbers while demonstrating some poise on the mound.
“Big fan,” Aaron Boone said. “Another guy that I think has a really, really bright future as a starting pitcher. I think he’s got a chance to be a really good starter. He can do a lot of things with the ball on the mound. He’s got a number of different pitches. He’s got a real good feel to pitch. When I watch him, I look at him and think, ‘That guy’s gonna be a starter in this league for a long time.’ That’s my early impression.”
Now Rodríguez will have to keep his cool on the world stage. It’s something he said he’s been working on, but Monday’s WBC contest will test him like no game has before.
“I’m not trying to get too excited or get out of my comfort zone,” he said of his approach to all his starts this spring. “I just try to stay composed and try to keep calm and just do what I do.”
