Richard Rodriguez has been pretty darn impressive in his brief career as an Atlanta Brave to this point. After a strong first half in Pittsburgh (14 saves, 2.82 ERA in 37 games) that led to him being a sought-after trade deadline target, the 31-year old landed in Atlanta and has been even better. Though there are only 11 games to show for, his 0.82 ERA and 0.909 WHIP are good indicators of how strong he's been.
But the mound isn't the only place he's impressed us.
Though the star of this clip is obviously Dansby Swanson, who crushed a home run to knot the game at one run apiece early as the red-hot Braves and the red-hot Yankees squared off on Monday night, you'll note that Rodriguez made a pretty slick grab once the ball had cleared the fence. And no, not in his glove — in his hat.
Throw that dude in the outfield! Unfortunately for Atlanta, the catch didn't do anything to improve their chances of winning. The would have required any semblance of late-game offense, of which there was none. Maybe the Braves need to utilize Rodriguez in that role, too.
That's not going to happen, but perhaps he'll see his late-game pitching role increase. After all, closer Will Smith does have seven saves in August, but they've come alongside two blown saves and a 6.10 ERA. Meanwhile, Rodriguez has only allowed a single run in his 10 innings of work this month.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram