Herlis Rodríguez

Herlis Elian Rodríguez

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.

• Born June 10, 1994 in Colón, Táchira Venezuela

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Herlis Rodríguez peaked at AAA and has been on the Venezuelan national team. His twin brother Helmis Rodríguez has also played pro ball.

Rodríguez was signed by Philadelphia Phillies scout Jesús Méndez in January 2011. He hit .289/.356/.396 for the VSL Phillies that year. Coming to the US, he batted .221/.265/.316 for the 2012 GCL Phillies. In '13, he played for the GCL Phillies (.389/.437/.533 in 28 G) and Williamsport Crosscutters (.204/.291/.245 in 13 G).

He split 2014 between Williamsport (.176/.263/.235 in 5 G), the Clearwater Threshers (.313/.327/.373 in 18 G) and the Lakewood BlueClaws (1 for 9, 2 BB), missing time with a wrist injury. He was 0 for 2 for the 2014-2015 Tigres de Aragua but scored three runs. In '15, he hit .294/.339/.425 for Lakewood. He led South Atlantic League outfielders in assists (22) and double plays (6), was 9th in average (between Elvis Escobar and Corey Toups) and tied Arturo Rodriguez for 6th in hits (131). He joined Michael Suchy and Wuilmer Becerra as the SAL All-Star outfielders. Among Phillies farmhands, he was 8th in hits. That winter, he hit .185/.241/.272 for Aragua.

Herlis took a step back in 2016, battling wrist and shin injuries. He only got into 48 games for Clearwater, hitting just .213/.282/.277. Aragua traded him with Yeltsin Gudiño, Jose Ortega, Yangervis Solarte and Ronald Torreyes to the Águilas del Zulia for Marwin Gonzalez, Alexander Torres and Jesus Alastre. He hit .181/.228/.287 for Zulia that winter. He was 1 for 3 with a run in the 2017 Caribbean Series, getting his hit off Juan Grullon.

He split 2017 between Clearwater (.272/.359/.451 in 52 G), the Reading Fightin Phils (.280/.280/.480 in 9 G) and Lehigh Valley IronPigs (.216/.259/.318 in 48 G). He had a strong winter for Zulia, though, at .331/.384/.417. He was 8th in the Venezuelan Winter League in average. The Detroit Tigers signed him for 2018 and he played for three of their farm teams that summer - the Lakeland Flying Tigers (.250/.333/.333 in 7 G), Erie SeaWolves (.194/.241/.261 in 24 G) and Toledo Mud Hens (.182/.182/.273 in 6 G).

Rodríguez had another fine winter, producing at a .319/.389/.509 clip in 36 games. Had he qualified, he would have tied Endy Chávez for 9th in average and been 4th in slugging and 5th in OPS (between Luis Valbuena and Willians Astudillo). In the 2019 Caribbean Series, he hit .214/.214/.286. He went to the Mexican League in 2019, batting .284/.394/.483 for the Pericos de Puebla.

He made the Venezuelan squad for the 2019 Premier 12, starting in center field. He had 7 putouts, gunned down Ryosuke Kikuchi at home and made no errors. At the plate, he was 3 for 12 with a homer off Fernando Cabrera.