ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Weehawken’s Rodriguez prepares for big day next month

The Major League Baseball free agent amateur draft will take place next month. It’s an event that Brian Rodriguez is certainly looking forward to.
“I think I can get drafted and that would make my dream become possible,” said Rodriguez, the Weehawken High School senior, who is projected to be selected in the late rounds of the upcoming draft. “I think I’m going to get drafted, so that makes me motivated to work even harder. I’m trying not to think too much about the draft. If I work hard and play hard, I’ll let everything just happen.”
However, just six weeks ago, it appeared as if Rodriguez’s draft status might have been altered severely.
Rodriguez suffered a dislocated finger on his right hand making a play in practice in March. He landed awkwardly on the right hand in an attempt to make a play at shortstop.
“I was going to pick up the ball and the runner just fell on top of my hand,” Rodriguez said. “At first, I didn’t think it was that bad.”
But the injury sent shockwaves throughout the Weehawken baseball community.
“We were really excited having Brian coming back,” said Weehawken veteran head baseball coach Anthony Stratton. “He had such a great year for us last year. It wasn’t like we were expecting the same thing, because it would have been very hard to duplicate that year. But everyone was expecting him to have a big year.”
Rodriguez understood that idea.
“I didn’t feel any pressure,” Rodriguez said. “I just enjoy playing the game. It was really hard when I got hurt, because I didn’t want to sit out. I was happy that I didn’t break it, but the doctors told me it would be a while before I came back.”
With that, Rodriguez thought his chances of getting drafted by a major league club were over.
“I thought that was it,” Rodriguez said. “I thought that it wasn’t going to happen.”
As it turned out, Rodriguez was only out of action for two regular season games.
“My immediate concern was for his future,” Stratton said. “Once we found out it was a simple dislocation, then I was able to breathe easier for him. I know he really wanted to play, but we were worried if he tore a ligament, then that would have required surgery and he would have been lost for the year. The doctors wanted us to wait a little longer, but the kid wanted to play.”
Rodriguez started the season as the designated hitter, to have him concentrate on hitting and avoid injuring the finger more severely.
“In his first game back, he hit a 350-foot bomb against Wood-Ridge that cleared the fence and should have been a homer,” Stratton said. “The umpires never saw it go over the fence. It hit a back wall and came back onto the field. They didn’t give him a homer. But it was a rocket. That’s when I knew he was fine and could play.”
Since that first game back after missing just two games and putting a scare into everyone alive in Weehawken, Rodriguez has been absolutely solid. He’s hitting .518 with three homers and 22 RBI and playing solid defense at shortstop, the position where he’s drawing attention from the big league teams.
But Rodriguez is also a fine pitcher and in the past week, he’s shown how good of a pitcher he can be, firing a one-hitter against Snyder and striking out 10 and then throwing a one-hitter against Lincoln in the first round of the Hudson County Tournament, striking out 14, leading the Indians to victory.
For his efforts, Rodriguez has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Rodriguez would be the first to admit that his hand is just fine.
“It’s 100 percent now,” Rodriguez said. “It doesn’t bother me at all. I just think I was more motivated to come back. I’m just glad that nothing really bad happened.”
Rodriguez said that he’s not really fazed by the scouts who have been coming to watch him play. Last week, a representative from the Baltimore Orioles was closely following Rodriguez’s development.
“He’s done well,” Stratton said. “He stands out above everyone else. I know the Orioles are really interested. They want to see him as a shortstop, but sometimes we have to use him as a pitcher, because he’s our best pitcher. But he has all the tools to be a professional.”
“It feels good to see all these people coming to watch me play,” Rodriguez said. “I feel comfortable with them there. I’m not nervous about it. I don’t feel any pressure to perform. It doesn’t matter who is watching. I’m just having fun.”
So for now, Rodriguez plans to finish the season strong and then watch the draft.
“I know I can play pro baseball,” Rodriguez said. “I have more confidence now. I’m working harder than ever before. I think I’m doing well.”
Stratton thinks that Rodriguez ranks right up with some of the best players he’s ever coached.
“Someone just asked me that the other day,” Stratton said. “I have to say that he’s right there among the best middle infielders along with Andrew Nasti [who went on to have a fine career at Rutgers-Newark]. He’s a great kid. He’s coachable. He’s well respected throughout our school. He’s just a great kid.”
And he’s a great kid who is about to become a pro ball player in the matter of a few weeks. – Jim Hague

Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.

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