Elmer Rodríguez erratic in MLB debut as Yankees fall to Rangers, 3-0

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Apr 29, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Elmer Rodríguez looked a bit erratic in his major league debut on Wednesday, walking four batters and hitting another in the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

Rodríguez — who at 22 years and 254 days old became the youngest player to pitch for the Yankees since Deivi Garcia did so in 2021 — initially worked around his spotty control, escaping the first inning despite a pair of walks. The righty, who impressed the Yankees with his poise in spring training, also came away unscathed in the second, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam after allowing a walk and two singles with two outs.

But Rodríguez’s trouble locating came around to bite him in the fifth frame, which began with him hitting Alejandro Osuna. Ezequiel Duran then drew a walk before Brandon Nimmo loaded the bases with a single off the glove of a drawn-in Ben Rice at first.

Josh Jung followed with a two-run single, knocking Rodríguez out of his first major league game.

With Brent Headrick stopping the bleeding, Rodríguez, who only issued seven free passes while recording a 1.27 ERA over 21 1/3 innings at Triple-A, totaled four innings, four hits, two earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts over 80 pitches.

His counterpart, former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi, was much sharper, throwing seven scoreless innings for the Rangers. The right-hander, off to a poor start this season, also tallied four hits, one walk and seven strikeouts over 102 pitches.

With Texas’ Sam Haggerty adding an RBI single off Jake Bird in the seventh, Eovaldi’s performance was more than enough to stop the Yankees from sweeping the Rangers.

Rodríguez, meanwhile, could get another big league start before Carlos Rodón returns from a rehab assignment. The lefty, who underwent an elbow cleanup procedure in the offseason, is scheduled to make his second rehab start at Double-A Somerset on Thursday.

Rodón may only make one more after that.