Texas star Adrian Rodriguez has Latino flair, work ethic
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José de Jesus Ortiz, Founder & Editor in Chief
- February 28, 2026
Top prosect Adrian Rodriguez credits work ethic
By 18 months old, Adrian Rodriguez was already throwing perfect spirals with a miniature football. That’s when Adrian’s father Juan knew he had a special athlete on his hands. Before long, Juan had Adrian throwing a baseball with both hands.
By 3 years old, the University of Texas star shortstop was hitting with relative ease from both sides of the plate. More importantly, perhaps, Adrian Rodriguez has the work ethic to match his exceptional talent.
Juan had Adrian taking 10-15 swings daily from each side before he was even potty trained. Perhaps slightly exaggerating, Juan says Adrian was switch-hitting before he could talk. By the time Adrian was 5 years old, he was regularly taking at least 50 swings from the left side and 50 more from the right side.
“We always taught him that if you want to be the best, you have to outwork everybody,” Juan Rodriguez says of his son. “He’s always worked hard.”
Supportive father
Adrian Rodriguez learned his work ethic from his father Juan, the son of a mother from Puerto Rico and a father from the Dominican Republic. Juan Rodriguez played baseball growing up in his native Puerto Rico until he was 19.
The elder Rodriguez stopped playing baseball after enrolling at the local university in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where he received a degree in computer engineering. Then he earned a graduate degree in software development and management from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Juan moved to the U.S. mainland in 1999 to work in Rochester, where he met his wife Sandra. The couple moved to Plano in 2005, when Sandra was pregnant with Adrian, the second of the couple’s three sons.
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On his way to becoming a top high school recruit, Adrian Rodriguez was an ambidextrous pitcher. Because Adrian could throw with his left and right hands equally well, his father ordered a custom glove with six finger slots so he could use it on either hand.
Moreover, Juan Rodriguez was almost always available to hit grounders or throw batting practice to his son.
“The advice that he gives me every day is to work hard, and that hard work beats talent,” Adrian Rodriguez says of his father. “He’s always there with me in the cages. Growing up in high school we hit every single day and took ground balls together. He’s just one of my big role models that I try to look up to. He just means the world to me.”
Super sophomore
Adrian mostly throws right-handed now because he plays shortstop, but he can also throw with his left. The talent and work ethic helped Rodriguez earn Freshman All-America honors last season at Texas. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was a two-time 6-A All-State selection at Flower Mound High.
Adrian transitioned into college baseball without much of a problem. He started all 49 games for the Longhorns last season. Rodriguez hit .313 with a .410 on-base percentage and .516 slugging percentage. He had 14 doubles, seven home runs and 23 RBIs while tying for the team lead with 15 stolen bases.
Adrian set the tone early in his career with an 11-game on-base streak while hitting .410 in that span. He closed out the season on a strong note with a 25-game on-base streak.
“Adrian loves baseball,” Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “There are people that play baseball, and there are baseball players. Adrian is a baseball player. He loves being on the field. He’s got great energy, and he’s got great parents who grew up in the game.
“His growth has been amazing. He’s still a kid at heart for sure, but he’s really taken to making himself a good shortstop and getting his body in a really good space.”
Top 2027 MLB Draft prospect
Baseball America rates Rodriguez as the fourth best prospect for the 2027 MLB Draft. At this point, Rodriguez says he’s not worried about the 2027 draft predictions. Although aware of the rankings, he’s adamant that he’s focused on staying in the moment.
Adrian is a self-declared “No Sabo” kid, which means he’s a Latino who doesn’t speak much Spanish. He can understand some Spanish words, but he’s not confident enough to hold a conversation in his father’s native language.
His style, however, couldn’t be more Latino if he were wearing a Puerto Rican or Dominican uniform. Adrian actually spent part of the winter break visiting his grandmother Gregoria in Añasco, Puerto Rico. While there, he watched the Mayaguez Indios play winter ball.
He was even invited to the Mayaguez dugout, where he met World Series champion Martin Maldonado and big leaguers Emmanuel Rivera and Eddie Rosario.
Swag on display
“It was really cool to see my family and those Latin players play,” he says. “I like the way they play, their style, their flair, the way they go about the game. That’s really what I try to implement into my game because a lot of players are … plain and simple. I like to have fun out there and show my emotions. I like to play the Latin way of baseball.”
And by Latin style, he means with the flair and joy he saw often from one of his childhood baseball idols, Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre.
“I loved watching Adrian Beltre play in Arlington with the Texas Rangers,” he says. “And I follow (Francisco) Lindor. He’s a switch-hitting shortstop, and I try to emulate my game off of him. And the way Adrian Beltre plays, with just having fun you could see he was having fun out there and it was entertaining.”
Lindor is nicknamed “Mr. Smile” for a reason. Adrian Rodriguez has a ready smile on the diamond as well. His love for the game is evident. He has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship. Adrian would qualify to play for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
He brings some Puerto Rican and Dominican sazon to the diamond daily.
“With the swag, a lot of energy, always positive, having fun,” Juan Rodriguez says of his son’s style. “What people tell me is that it’s fun to watch him play.”
José de Jesus Ortiz
Founder & Editor in Chief
Award-winning writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, a former lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has covered Major League Baseball since 1997 in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, New York and Houston. He was the first Latino to serve as president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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