San Diego Padres 2026 Top Prospects Rankings: Bradgley Rodriguez (No. 4)

[TomCent]

Padres Mission's ranking of the organization's top prospects for 2026 has reached the final stage with a countdown of the top five. Be sure to check out our previous rankings here:

• No. 5: Miguel Mendez
• No. 6: Jagger Haynes
• No. 7: Humberto Cruz
• No. 8: Ty Harvey
• No. 9: Ryan Wideman
• No. 10: Kale Fountain
• Nos. 11-15
• Nos. 16-20

No. 4 Bradgley Rodriguez (San Diego Padres, El Paso Chihuahuas, San Antonio Missions)

After a successful big-league callup last September and a strong spring training this year, Rodriguez appears ready to handle a full-time role in the Padres' loaded bullpen. That's a big accomplishment for a 22-year-old who has spent half his pro career injured.

Bradgley Rodriguez joined the Padres organization in January 2021 out of Venezuela, signing for $370,000. Later that year, the right-hander showed off his live arm in the Dominican Summer League. But then came the struggles. An elbow injury led to Tommy John surgery in 2022, and the subsequent rehab cost him the 2022 and 2023 seasons. When he finally got back on the mound in 2024, he made up for the lost time. He pitched at three levels that year, capped by a promotion to Double-A San Antonio in August. He went back to San Antonio to begin the 2025 season, and then he caught the Padres' eye. In late May, he was promoted to the majors straight from Double-A. He debuted on May 31 vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates, working 1 2/3 scoreless innings, but was optioned to Triple-A El Paso three days later.

Then, the injury bug bit him again. He missed about two weeks in mid-June with biceps tightness and spent seven weeks on the IL from early July to late August. Once healthy, he earned another callup to San Diego, where the Padres were dealing with their own pitching injuries. His electric stuff and moxie earned him a spot on the club's roster for the Wild Card Series against the Cubs. Rodriguez did not appear in the series, but just being on a postseason roster was a clear sign that the club thought it might have something with him. 

Rodriguez faced just 31 batters over 7 2/3 innings in the majors in 2025, but we can still glean much from how he attacked them. He threw a four-seamer, sinker, changeup, and cutter. All three of his fastballs played up in the charged atmosphere of the Show --- the sinker and four-seamer velocity increased by a full mile per hour to 98.3 and 98.8, respectively, while the cutter velo increased by 0.9 mph to 89.2. The sinker and change showed sizable horizontal movement, with 15.3 and 16.0 inches of arm-side run, respectively. Some of that movement can be attributed to a drop in arm angle from 56 percent to 46.8 percent. According to Mad Friars, the organization made the switch to three-quarters after the biceps scare to ease the strain on his arm.

Rodriguez's pitch mix underwent a transformation last year as well. It changed from sinker-heavy in Triple-A to four-seam-heavy in the majors. The four-seamer use was just 10.6 percent at El Paso, but 40.2 percent with the Padres. The sinker use fell from 45.8 percent to 26.0 percent in the bigs. Changeup use was pared from 31.3 percent to 23.6 percent. The changeup played very well off the four-seamer, generating a 46.7 whiff rate as Rodriguez's putaway pitch. In fact, both pitches were unhittable, a .000 batting average for both. The sinker helped to produce a 56.3 percent ground-ball rate, to pair with a 29.0 strikeout rate. 

Platoon advantage played a large role in pitch selection. Thirty-one of his 33 sinkers and all 13 of his cutters were thrown to right-handed batters, while 23 of his 30 changeups were thrown to left-handed batters. The four-seamer use was more balanced --- 32 to left-handers, 19 to right-handers.

(All stats per Baseball Savant and FanGraphs.)

Rodriguez put himself in position to win a job out of spring training with six consecutive scoreless outings to begin exhibition play. He allowed two hits, struck out seven, and, more importantly, walked one over six innings. His chances will improve greatly if Jason Adam (quad) needs to open the season on the injured list and the bullpen has a second opening. If Adam proves ready to go, then it will be Rodriguez, Ty Adcock, Logan Gillaspie, Alek Jacob, and Ron Marinaccio vying for one spot. Gillaspie has earned praise from manager Craig Stammen for his willingness to fill any role, while Marinaccio is out of minor-league options. Rodriguez, on the other hand, can be optioned. If he does have to go back to El Paso, he'll be an early call-up option when the staff begins to go through the inevitable churn.

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