One-on-One: Bryan Rodriguez

Baseball is a global game. Its influence can be seen on all seven continents and in countless countries throughout the world. As our national pastime grows internationally, the number of foreign-born players on Major and Minor League rosters continues to grow. But while baseball is just now becoming part of the athletic mainstream in places like Australia and The Netherlands, the game has been deeply rooted in the history and culture of the Dominican Republic for decades. It's on this small island in the Caribbean that baseball is more than just something you do; it's something you are. Storm starter Bryan Rodriguez, who hails from "La Republica Dominicana," grew up with one goal: to make it to the Major Leagues.

Bryan De Jesus Rodriguez was born on July 6, 1991 in San Pedro de Macoris, a city of just under 200,000 on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. It was here that Rodriguez developed his passion for the game, thanks in large part to the influence of his father Jesus. "My dad played for the Dodgers organization, so I grew up playing baseball," Bryan said through teammate Jeremy Rodriguez, who acted as translator for this interview. "He played with some great pitchers like Pedro Martinez and Ramon Martinez, and I played a lot with my father and practiced a lot, which is how I learned my changeup. My dad got me started, but he had to work a lot to help the family so I did a lot of traveling to work with a trainer." From an early age Rodriguez was set on being a pitcher, and he began working out with other local players, including the likes of current Storm pitcher Genison Reyes and former Storm Luis De La Cruz.

That hard work paid off, and in 2010 he joined the San Diego Padres organization as a member of the Dominican Summer League Padres. That first year he pitched 48.1 innings over ten games, and in 2012 he was invited to move to the United States and join the Arizona Padres in the Rookie League. For Rodriguez, the transition to life in America was difficult at first. "That first year was very tough," he commented. "In the Dominican you take English classes, but you don't take them as seriously as you should because you don't know if you're going to actually need it. So when I got here, it was a big culture shock. I would be hungry and not know what to order because I didn't know how to say it in English. I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know how to say it. That was pretty much the hardest thing for me, getting adjusted to the language."

 Despite his off-field obstacles, Rodriguez pitched well enough to earn a promotion to the Eugene Emeralds at the end of the 2012 season. With his English improving, Bryan spent the offseason honing his craft and was assigned to the Low A Fort Wayne TinCaps to begin 2013. His adjustment to life stateside was apparent, as the 6'5"righty put up the best statistics of his professional career. Despite a 2-8 record, Rodriguez posted a 3.19 ERA through 84.2 innings while striking out 52 batters in that span.

Part of his improved on-field performance was due to the fraternity that all Latin-born players enter into when they join the professional baseball ranks in America. "It helps a lot," Bryan remarked when asked about the influence of his fellow Latinos on his acclimation to his new life. "We're all going through this together. It's a family. When you meet someone who is from here, you're shy and don't really know how to act. But with the Latin guys, being here and being in the minority, we're already brothers. It doesn't matter if they're from Cuba, Venezuela, or wherever, we all come together because we know that there aren't many of us. We're always talking and hanging out with each other because we know that we have to stick together. I understand what they had to go through and they understand what I had to go through to get here. We had to experience the same failures and hardships, so that's what makes us so close."

That camaraderie has continued this season in Lake Elsinore. With six Dominicans, three Venezuelans, a Colombian (Tyron Guerrero) and a Puerto Rican (Benji Gonzalez) on the Storm roster, Rodriguez feels right at home in the clubhouse. That comfort carries over to the field, where he has recorded a 3.89 ERA through 22 starts in the hitter-friendly California League. With a 4-2 record since the All-Star Break, Bryan has been an important part of the league's best pitching staff. His in-season improvement was especially noticeable on July 10 against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. "Before each start, I get my mind blank," Rodriguez said. "I just want to be refreshed. The biggest thing I do to focus is to go out into the stands and sit by myself for awhile so I can make sure my mind is ready for the game. It's really important to have a good routine, especially when things are going well, so I'll run for ten minutes exactly three hours before the game then get the game ball that I will warm up with and begin to visualize what I want to do."

Rodriguez knows that the game can wear you down, and he feels that this season he has handled the physical demands of professional baseball better than ever before. "I'm most focused on staying mentally strong and finishing the season on a good note," he continued. "The first four months of the year I improved a lot physically, and now I feel like this is where I need to push hard on the mental side. To keep moving up in the organization, I need to fine tune the command of my pitches, which is something I continue to work on."

As we near the end of the 2014 season, Rodriguez has proven that he deserves to be here. But what motivates him to get better each and every day? That traces back to the man who started Bryan's journey: his father Jesus. "I talk to my dad a lot, especially when things get rough for me," he explained. "The last thing my dad says to me each time we talk is to remember where I came from. I know that my family has struggled, and my dad reminds me to be the best at whatever I do both on and off the field. When times are hard, remember where you came from and give it all you have." As a young man with humble begins, Bryan Rodriguez is dialed in on where he's going, which, if all goes as planned, will be the pitcher's mound in a big league ballpark with his name on the scoreboard.