Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Boston Red Sox #30 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/Extreme
  
  Track Record: When the Red Sox made Rodriguez-Cruz their fourth-round pick in 2021, he was Boston’s highest selection of a high school pitcher since Michael Kopech in 2014. They signed Rodriguez-Cruz, a projectable, rail-thin 17-year-old with some feel for four pitches, for an under-slot bonus of $497,500. He held his own as a 19-year-old in the Low-A Carolina League in 2023, but elbow inflammation limited him to two innings over the final two months.
  
  Scouting Report: Rodriguez-Cruz attacks the strike zone aggressively with a mix of four pitches that mostly project as average. He averaged 92-93 mph on his fastball in 2023 and touched 95. The pitch lacks elite shape, but Rodriguez-Cruz’s frame has room to add power and reach above-average velocity. He reshaped his changeup into a hybrid splitter in 2023 and altered his slider to create glove-side movement and get on the hands of lefties. Rodriguez-Cruz also has a strike-stealing slow curve. He has the feel to shape and reshape pitches, making Rodriguez-Cruz a work in progress who nonetheless has plenty of potential to make gains in both power and pitch quality as he develops.
  
  The Future: Rodriguez-Cruz has back-of-the-rotation potential if he fills out and gains power. If that doesn’t happen, his feel for pitching gives him a chance to be an up-and-down depth contributor.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 55
• 
  Ranked Boston Red Sox #26 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: In high school, Rodriguez-Cruz was a reed-thin 17-year-old up to 94 mph with four pitches, showing the projectable physical traits and strike-throwing ability to suggest an attractive ceiling. The Red Sox took him in the fourth round--their highest selection of a high school righthander since Michael Kopech in 2014--and gave him a slightly below-slot bonus of $497,500. In his 2022 pro debut, Rodriguez-Cruz had a 1.88 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings, mostly in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.
  
  Scouting Report: Even as he has room for considerable strength gains, Rodriguez-Cruz works with a fastball up to 95 mph and features good extension, getting on hitters quickly. The athletic righthander isn't shy about attacking the strike zone with his fastball as the headliner of a mix that also includes a curveball that could be a tick above-average pitch, as well as a changeup and a fringy slider.
  
  The Future: Rodriguez-Cruz has a mix that gives him a chance to emerge as a starter, most likely at the back of the rotation, so long as either his changeup or slider develops into a viable third big league pitch. He finished 2022 in Low-A Salem and likely will spend much of 2023 there.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 55. Slider: 45. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: In high school, Rodriguez-Cruz was a reed-thin 17-year-old up to 94 mph with four pitches, showing the projectable physical traits and strike-throwing ability to suggest an attractive ceiling. The Red Sox took him in the fourth round--their highest selection of a high school righthander since Michael Kopech in 2014--and gave him a slightly below-slot bonus of $497,500. In his 2022 pro debut, Rodriguez-Cruz had a 1.88 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings, mostly in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.
  
  Scouting Report: Even as he has room for considerable strength gains, Rodriguez-Cruz works with a fastball up to 95 mph and features good extension, getting on hitters quickly. The athletic righthander isn't shy about attacking the strike zone with his fastball as the headliner of a mix that also includes a curveball that could be a tick above-average pitch, as well as a changeup and a fringy slider.
  
  The Future: Rodriguez-Cruz has a mix that gives him a chance to emerge as a starter, most likely at the back of the rotation, so long as either his changeup or slider develops into a viable third big league pitch. He finished 2022 in Low-A Salem and likely will spend much of 2023 there.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 55. Slider: 45. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: In high school, Rodriguez-Cruz was a reed-thin 17-year-old up to 94 mph with four pitches, showing the projectable physical traits and strike-throwing ability to suggest an attractive ceiling. The Red Sox took him in the fourth round--their highest selection of a high school righthander since Michael Kopech in 2014--and gave him a slightly below-slot bonus of $497,500. In his 2022 pro debut, Rodriguez-Cruz had a 1.88 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings, mostly in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.
  
  Scouting Report: Even as he has room for considerable strength gains, Rodriguez-Cruz works with a fastball up to 95 mph and features good extension, getting on hitters quickly. The athletic righthander isn't shy about attacking the strike zone with his fastball as the headliner of a mix that also includes a curveball that could be a tick above-average pitch, as well as a changeup and a fringy slider.
  
  The Future: Rodriguez-Cruz has a mix that gives him a chance to emerge as a starter, most likely at the back of the rotation, so long as either his changeup or slider develops into a viable third big league pitch. He finished 2022 in Low-A Salem and likely will spend much of 2023 there.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 55. Slider: 45. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Rodriguez-Cruz was drafted by Boston in the fourth round of the 2021 draft out of Leadership Christian Academy in Puerto Rico. A projectable righthander who was just 17 years old at the 2021 draft, the Red Sox held Rodriguez-Cruz back last summer. He eventually debuted this spring in the Florida Complex League.
  
  Scouting Report: After sitting 88-91 mph as an amateur Rodriguez-Cruz has been sitting 92-93 mph and up to 95-96 mph this spring. His fastball features only moderate hop with spin rates in the 2,000-2,100 rpm range, but does have average vertical ride with above-average arm-side run giving it some life at the plate. His high-70s-to-low-80s curveball is his bread-and-butter secondary, with 11-5 shape with solid depth. He mixes in a mid-80s cutter-slider hybrid pitch, and shows feel for a firmer high-80s changeup. In games Rodriguez-Cruz has shown the ability to throw strikes, generate whiffs and weak groundball contact.
  
  The Future: Rodriguez-Cruz is still very much a work in progress but he has the upside of a mid-rotation starter or quality bullpen anchor. It&#39s a matter of improving his overall pitch quality and power without sacrificing Rodriguez-Cruz&#39s inherent pitcher traits.