Cardinals' Rainiel Rodriguez makes loud statement with 106-MPH double

[Alex Reyes Cy Young]

This is wild. I am hoping he can make it really hard on them to send him down.

There's zero chance he will not be sent down. Even the most freakishly great spring training performance results in him being sent down. He played in the US for the first time last year, started at the FCL, moved to A ball, and has played all of 4 games at A+.

Agree to disagree. If he blasted 7 hrs and hit for a 1000 ops it would be hard regardless if you agree or not.

Ultimately he’s going back down but it would be “hard”. Whereas if he hit 150 and didn’t do jack it would be “easy”.

Agree with Ronnie on this one. The decision has already been made. The aren't sending him from a handful of games at A+ to the majors. Full stop. If he has the kind of spring you describe, perhaps he opens the season at AA. It's ok to disagree (it's a much more enjoyable disagreement than speculating on how long they stick with someone before they pull the plug). We'll see how it pans out.

It’s more of a saying than anything. You want your players making it hard on them. This is a sports phrase used in all sports. When trying out for varsity in highschool as a freshman I knew I wasn’t going to make it but the assistant coach told me “make the decision hard on them”.

If you played high school college sports I think the phrase is understood. I could see a disconnect occurring if you never played a team sport with tryouts etc…

[ClassicO]

Catching is the toughest position to play in terms of wear on the body. It would be great if he can hit at a high level and handle the catching duties but he is a long way from MLB at the moment.

He hit .249 at Palm Beach - A ball.

Yea, as an 18 year old, that is really good. Here is his full batting line there: .249 .373 .498 .871 OPS. That's good for a 145 wRC+. Between Rookie Ball, A, and A+ he hit .276 .399 .555 and a .954 OPS. That's a 167 wRC+.

Then I saw this tweet the other day. Try to enjoy a young stud having an amazing start to his minor league career. We all know he's very young and [shirt] happens. Why pick out one stat to focus on? And again, hitting .249 isn't bad when you do a lot of other things well. There's a lot more to be able to enjoy if you try.

That's great.

I agree. Thank for posting that tweet/graphic. He’s the only catcher among that impressive group.