Isaac Rodríguez (minors02)

Isaac Rodríguez Salazar

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of Southern Mississippi
• High School Cypress Bay High School

• Born March 3, 1991 in Hermosillo, Sonora Mexico

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Isaac Rodríguez has played as high as AAA (winning a batting crown there) and in the Olympics. He has also won batting titles in college and winter ball. His cousin Cesar Salazar has also played pro ball.

He hit .531 as a high school senior and was All-State. He batted .325 as a college freshman, then .288 as a sophomore at Southern Miss. His junior year, he hit .276 and fielded .990 at 2B. He led Conference USA with a .348 average as a senior and tied for the OBP lead at .441.

Returning to his native Mexico, he signed with the Toros de Tijuana, going 6 for 22 with two walks, two doubles, a run and a RBI in 2015. He was 0 for 2 for the Venados de Mazatlán in his Mexican Pacific League debut. With Tijuana in 2016, he was a regularly-used utility infielder and hit .307/.365/.389. He was named Mexican League Rookie of the Year. He moved to the Cañeros de Los Mochis for the winter and batted .314/.391/.413 with 44 runs and 31 walks in 64 games. He led the LMP in runs (one ahead of Leo Heras), was 2nd in hits (83, 5 behind Manny Rodriguez), tied for 8th in doubles (14), tied Quincy Latimore for 6th in walks, tied Leandro Castro for 7th in OBP and was 5th in average (between Chris Roberson and Ronnier Mustelier). He won Rookie of the Year honors, becoming the first player since Erubiel Durazo to win LMB and LMP Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons. He was 0 for 4 with a run in the 2017 Caribbean Series,

In the summer of '17, he fell to .271/.345/.346 and was 11-for-15 in steals for Tijuana, fielding .990 at 2B, where he took over for Carlos Valencia. In the winter, he was at .250/.303/.309 for Los Mochis. The Mexican League went to a two-season format in 2018. In the spring, he hit .394/.442/.544 with 52 runs in 55 games and stole 20 bases in 24 tries while playing error-free defense at 2B and SS! He won the batting title (.015 ahead of Brian Hernandez), was second to Carlos Figueroa in runs (two shy) and was second in steals (three behind Figueroa). He fell to a still-solid .344/.416/.464 in the fall campaign and fielded .996 at 2B. With Los Mochis that winter, his batting line was .318/.409/.392 and he had 41 runs and 37 walks in 67 games. He was 5th in average (between Victor Mendoza and Ramon Urias), 3rd in OBP (behind Urias and Mendoza), tied Manny Rodriguez for 3rd in runs and led in walks (one ahead of Castro and Juan Carlos Gamboa).

Rodríguez produced at a .316/.389/.430 clip for Tijuana in 2019, stole 23 bases in 30 attempts and scored 84 runs. He tied Richy Pedroza for 10th in the LMB in swipes. In 2019-2020, he was at .340/.414/.422 for Los Mochis. He won his second batting title as a pro (.004 ahead of Yadiel Hernández), was 3rd in OBP (after Yadiel Hernández and Joey Meneses), placed 8th in OPS (between Julian Leon and Michael Choice), tied for 7th in runs (37), led with 87 hits (5 ahead of Amadeo Zazueta) and tied Heras for 6th in stolen bases.

The 2020 Mexican League season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. Back with the Cañeros, he batted .298/.380/.399 in 2020-2021. He was 10th in OBP (between Marco Jaime and Japhet Amador) and tied Norberto Obeso for 8th in steals (9). He began 2021 on an excellent note for Tijuana (.380/.448/.505, 41 R in 48 G). He was put on Mexico's squad for the 2020 Olympics (delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19, but still called the 2020 Olympics). Batting leadoff and playing third base, he was the first Mexican Olympic batter ever. He grounded out against the Dominican Republic's Ángel Sánchez his first at-bat; down 1-0 in the 6th, he singled off Ramón Rosso and tried to score on a hit by Meneses, but was thrown out at the plate by José Bautista. It was the closest Mexico came to scoring in their Olympic debut. In their second game, he scored Mexico's first Olympic run in baseball, singling off Masato Morishita in the first, advancing on a wild pitch and scoring on a Meneses hit. That also gave Mexico its first lead in an Olympic baseball game, coming against Gold Medal-bound Japan. He also scored their third run; down 7-2 in the 8th, he drew a walk from Kaima Taira and came home on a homer by Meneses. In their third and final game, versus Israel, he was 0 for 3 with a walk, two steals and a run before José Cardona pinch-hit. He finished the Games at .222/.364/.222 with 3 runs in 3 games, fielding .833. He tied Eric Filia for 2nd in the Games in swipes (2), one behind Olympic MVP Tetsuto Yamada. He also led Mexico in runs.

Related Sites

• BR College Baseball page