Nicaraguan right-hander Carlos Rodriguez will make his first start of the 2025 Major League Baseball season for the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, April 5, in the second game of their four-game home series against the Cincinnati Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EDT at American Family Field.
Rodriguez will be the first Nicaraguan-born player to appear in the 2025 Major League Baseball season once he toes the mound on Saturday night.
The Brewers won 3-2 over the Reds on Friday night. With the win, Milwaukee improved to 3-5, while Cincinnati dropped to 2-5 to start the 2025 season.
Cincinnati entered Friday’s game having lost three consecutive contests by a score of 1-0—the first MLB team to do so since the 1960 Philadelphia Phillies. Other teams to endure the same streak include the 1917 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1909 Washington Senators, the 1909 St. Louis Browns, and the 1908 Brooklyn Superbas.
Rodriguez, 23, was born in Rivas, Nicaragua and made his Major League debut with Milwaukee on June 11, 2024, against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft and signed on July 26 of that year after his freshman season at Florida SouthWestern State College.
He was assigned to Triple-A Nashville on March 10 during spring training. In three spring outings—one as a starter—Rodriguez posted a 15.43 ERA, going 0-1 and allowing 11 hits and eight earned runs over 4.2 innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.
To begin the 2025 season, Rodriguez made one start for Nashville, throwing five scoreless innings on the road at Triple-A Jacksonville. He allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out seven.
Rodriguez also played for Nicaragua during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, appearing in Pool D at loanDepot Park in Miami against Venezuela, Israel, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. In his lone WBC start, he threw four innings, giving up two hits and one earned run while striking out three. Nicaragua went winless in its WBC debut and was required to requalify for the 2026 tournament. They succeeded in February, going 3-0 at the Taipei Dome and defeating host nation Chinese Taipei 6-0 to earn a return to the WBC. Nicaragua has not yet been assigned to a pool for the 2026 edition, alongside other qualifiers Colombia, Brazil, and Chinese Taipei.
Rodriguez began the 2023 minor league season in Double-A Biloxi, where he went 9-6 in 25 starts with a 2.77 ERA. Over 123.2 innings, he allowed 82 hits, 38 earned runs, and struck out 152. He was promoted to Triple-A Nashville on September 20, 2023, and made one start, giving up three earned runs in 4.2 innings.
In 2024, Rodriguez spent most of the season with Nashville, going 9-9 with a 4.51 ERA over 129.2 innings in 25 appearances (22 starts), recording one save. He struck out 129 and walked 61. After being called up to the big leagues in July, he made three starts for the Brewers, going 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA across 12.1 innings.
Over four seasons in the minors, Rodriguez has a 25-20 record and a 3.45 ERA in 78 appearances (69 starts), with 423 strikeouts and a 1.141 WHIP across 370.2 innings. He was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star in both 2022 and 2023 and earned Southern League Pitcher of the Year honors in 2023. He was also named a Baseball America Minor League All-Star that same year.
Rodriguez is competing for a spot in Milwaukee’s starting rotation under second-year manager Pat Murphy, who won the 2024 National League Manager of the Year award. He’ll be vying for innings alongside Nestor Cortes, Freddy Peralta, Tyler Alexander, and Chad Patrick as the Brewers continue to evaluate their pitching depth early in the season.
(AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
