1 day Ago By Taylor Bretl, Yardbarker
On his 27th birthday, Brewers right-handed pitcher Elvin Rodriguez made his return to the major-league mound for the first time since 2023 — a season in which he logged only one appearance. Rodriguez re-entered MLB after an impressive stint with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in in Nippon Professional Baseball League. During the 2024 season in Tokyo, he pitched in 32 games, delivering 45 strong innings.
He recorded a 1.80 ERA, allowing just one home run, striking out 44 batters and issuing only 12 walks. In Monday's start, an 11-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals, Rodriguez's first inning showed signs of nerves, as he surrendered three runs and four hits.
However, there was a silver lining — two of the first three outs in the inning came via a strikeout. Settling into a rhythm after his lackluster first inning, Rodriguez faced only 12 batters over the next three innings. Across 38 pitches, he allowed just one hit and one run — a solo home run — marking a stark improvement from his opening inning, where he needed 26 pitches to face seven batters.
His final line on the game showed four innings pitched, allowing six hits, four runs, and one walk, while striking out three batters, culminating in a loss. Prior to Monday's game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy, presented with a thin starting rotation faced with multiple injuries, spoke on the decision to start Rodriguez. "I know for the fans at home it would be great to have Quintana or one of our regular rotation guys," Murphy said, per MLB.
com's Adam McCalvy. "But this is the way it is right now. We’re beat up.
We’re hurt. We’ve got to go through it." Rodroguez is likely to stay on Milwaukee's roster with the team's injury status, including the recent loss of Aaron Civale , who was placed on the 15-day injured list.
Rodriguez will be aiming for a strong rebound performance if granted another starting opportunity. Taylor Bretl is a student at Virginia Tech and founder of Around the Globe Baseball. While his passion is MLB, he also has a strong connection with football and basketball at the professional and collegiate levels.
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