From Miller Park to Overseas Leagues: Ex-Brewers Starter Seeks Career Redemption Abroad .MH
He will forever hold a small part of Brewers’ history after his home Opening Day start in 2025.
For one of the best reminders of the grueling length and ever-changing nature of MLB’s regular season, Milwaukee Brewers fans need only recall their home Opening Day starting pitcher from the 2025 season.
After the team dropped their first three games of the season in embarrassing fashion to the New York Yankees, they returned home for another interleague matchup: a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals. With José Quintana not yet ready for action after an extended Spring Training that followed his late signing with the Brewers, and Brandon Woodruff still several weeks away from returning to a big league mound, Milwaukee turned to offseason signing Elvin Rodríguez as their home Opening Day starting pitcher.
Fast forward to the end of the season, and many Brewers fans had likely forgotten about Rodríguez, as he was designated for assignment before the All-Star Break. However, despite not finding the success he was hoping for in his return to MLB, Elvin Rodríguez will forever be the home Opening Day starting pitcher from the most successful Brewers’ regular season in franchise history.
Rodríguez joined the Brewers several months before his home Opening Day start after pitching in Japan during the previous two seasons. Prior to his stint in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Rodríguez appeared in major league games for the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays, but an inability to find his footing with either club was the impetus for his first trip overseas. Now, Rodríguez is reportedly returning to Asia, but this time as a member of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), where he will play for the Lotte Giants.
Brewers’ 2025 home Opening Day starter, Elvin Rodríguez, signs with KBO’s Lotte Giants for 2026 season
Rodríguez showed some flashes of productivity during his stint in Milwaukee. In particular, a five-inning relief appearance against the Tigers back on May 7, which ironically preceded his second optioning to Triple-A of the 2025 season, showed signs of what the Brewers believed Rodríguez could become when they signed him away from NPB.
Unfortunately, as the Brewers’ pitching staff got healthier and Rodríguez continued to underwhelm, he became the odd man out in a 40-man roster crunch that took some creativity on the front office’s end. Rodríguez was claimed by the Baltimore Orioles, but made just one disappointing appearance for their big league club before they too DFAd the 27-year-old right-hander. The Arizona Diamondbacks scooped Rodríguez up, but he never made an appearance with their major league team before deciding to head back overseas for the 2026 season.
It’s rare for a player to return to MLB from the Asian leagues twice and find success that second time around, but that’s what Rodríguez will now hope to do. His initial stint in Asia was enough for him to earn another MLB opportunity with the Brewers, but teams now have more information on how Rodríguez fares against MLB hitters, and are likely to be more reluctant to hand him a contract should he wish to return to the States next winter.
Rodríguez will forever be a part of Brewers history, serving as the team’s home Opening Day starter during their memorable 2025 season. However, his focus now is on trying to rediscover the success he had in NPB in 2024, when he posted a sub-2.00 ERA in 49 appearances.
