Yankees Real Life Bull Durham Looks To Make It Back To Majors Before Season's End

Wilking Rodriguez is a real life Crash Davis from the movie Bull Durham. 

Rodriguez, a right-hander out of Venezuela, made his MLB debut on June 3rd, 2014, for the Kansas City Royals. Now, 11-years later, Rodriguez has been everywhere but back in the majors.

Now you may think he must have had a horrible stat line or something when he was in The Show, but in reality, he was perfect. Rodriguez pitched two shutout innings with Kansas City before being optioned back down to the minors and eventually released by the Royals organization.

Since 2014, Rodriguez has signed contracts with five different Venezuelan Winter League teams, two Mexican League teams, along with contracts with the St. Louis Cardinals and he is currently on his third stint with the New York Yankees.

Overall, a 2015 suspension for PED use and taking three years off of playing affiliated ball entirely from 2017-19, has been the case of what is a very interesting journeyman career for the now 35-year-old.

According to Baseball Reference, Rodriguez’s rookie status is still intact as he awaits another chance in the bigs. Going into mid-September, Rodriguez is not on New York’s 40-man roster. Due to Rodriguez’s age and MiLB time, he is eligible for this upcoming Rule 5 Draft over the offseason, unless New York adds him to their 40-man.

In 2025, the Yankees Triple-AAA affiliate RailRiders have used Rodriguez sparingly, having him appear in just 21.2 innings so far this season. Most recently, Rodriguez pitched 0.1 innings on September 7th during the fourth inning. The reliever has posted a 3.74 ERA thus far and a 2-1 record in a total of 23 games this season.

Subscribe to our YouTube (IT’S FREE) here.