Rodrigo Orozco Jr.

Rodrigo Alexis Orozco

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 155 lb.

• Born April 2, 1995 in Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá Panamá

BR register page

Biographical Information

Rodrigo Orozco has played in the minors and for the Panamanian national team. His father Rodrigo Orozco Sr. played for the Panamanian national team in the 1980s.

Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012, he hit .269/.373/.423 in his pro debut for the 2013 DSL Blue Jays. In '14, he batted .274/.385/.355 for the same club, with 40 walks, 20 steals (in 28 tries) and 49 runs in 61 games. He fielded .992 in center, with ten assists. He spent most of 2015 with the Bluefield Blue Jays (.300/.368/.435) and also got into 3 games for the Vancouver Canadians (3 for 9, 2 2B, 4 BB, SB).

With the 2016 Canadians, he produced at a .241/.348/.289 clip with 7 assists to one error. He moved up to the full-season Lansing Lugnuts in 2017 and hit .282/.367/.373. With the 2018 Dunedin Blue Jays, he batted .304/.375/.389 and stole 18 bases in 22 attempts. He edged Ivan Castillo for the Florida State League batting title, .3042 to .3041. He was also 5th with 70 runs and was 3rd in OBP (after Hoy-jun Park and Bruce Yari). He did not make the FSL All-Star team, though outfield mate Joshua Palacios did.

Orozco then made the Panamanian squad for the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier. He was 2 for 8 with two walks and a RBI as their leadoff hitter as they dropped both games. Panama then played in the 2019 Caribbean Series, their first Caribbean Series in 59 years, as they took over late for Venezuela as host (due to political turmoil in Venezuela). Despite hitting from the 9th slot, the center fielder had some big plays. In the opener, he helped the Toros de Herrera beat the Estrellas Orientales, when his single off Jhan Mariñez scored Jonathan Gálvez with the go-ahead run in the 7th, breaking a 2-2 tie; he scored an insurance run when Gerald Chin singled him home. In the second game, with a 6-5 deficit in the 9th, he had a one-out single off Luis Cruz with one man on and scored on a double by Jilton Calderón to put Panama up, 7-6 as they rallied to win.

On April 2, 2019, he was traded by the Blue Jays to the San Diego Padres in return for OF Socrates Brito. He split the summer between the Amarillo Sod Poodles (.263/.339/.329 in 66 G) and El Paso Chihuahuas (.305/.382/.484 in 26 G). With Panama having now being reinstituted as a regular Caribbean Series participant, he hit .191/.227/.238 for the Astronautas de Chiriquí in the 2020 Caribbean Series. He became a free agent after the 2019 season but no MLB team signed him for 2020.

In the 2021 Caribbean Series, he was 3 for 11 with two walks, a run and three RBI for the Federales de Chiriquí. He was 0 for 4 with a walk for the Astronautas de Los Santos in the 2022 Caribbean Series. Playing summer ball again, he signed with the independent Ottawa Titans and batted .288/.379/.401. He represented Panama again, in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He was 1 for 5 with a walk, double, run and two RBI as Panama won a spot in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic in 14 years. His hit came off Carlos Gimenez.