Five current members of the Chattanooga Lookouts were born in the 1980s.
All five came up in different organizations before signing with the Minnesota Twins, and all five still have hopes of either getting to the big leagues or getting back to the big leagues.
Infielder Jonathan Rodriguez was a 17th-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009 who’s in his first season in the Twins organization, and he is taking advantage. Rodriguez went 2-for-4 Sunday evening as the Lookouts continued their mastery of Jacksonville with a 5-2 triumph before a crowd of 2,026 at AT&T Field.
The 27-year-old from San Juan, Puerto Rico, had three hits in Saturday night’s win over the Jumbo Shrimp and suddenly leads the Lookouts with a .313 average.
“He’s been red hot these last three weeks,” Lookouts manager Jake Mauer said Sunday. “He’s been in the middle of our lineup for the whole year, and he’s really driven the ball well. He’s always been an RBI producer, and you’re starting to see his average creep up. He’s staying to the middle of the field and not worried so much about hitting home runs, because sometimes that can leave you pulling the ball too much.