The setbacks and adversity faced by Endy Rodriguez over the last two-plus years have been nearly endless.

The Pittsburgh Pirates catcher/first baseman missed the entirety of the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery and then, only 18 games into the 2025 campaign, he was sidelined again, first by a hand laceration and then by inflammation in his surgically repaired elbow.

While it was doubtless frustrating, missing so much baseball the last few seasons provided the 25-year-old Rodriguez with a new perspective.

“Growing up, I always learned to control what you can control,” Rodriguez said after being was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. “The past two years have been that: control what you can control, try to get my body healthy, in a good position (and) learn about my body.”

By the end of Thursday’s game, his first big-league appearance since June 6, 2025, Rodriguez had plenty of reasons to be happy.

The 25-year-old went 2 for 3 at the plate with a double, RBI single and walk in his club’s 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.

“Just being around the guys now and feeling the energy they have, all the team together, it’s pretty good,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez had an unusual defensive task Thursday, as the Pirates utilized two opening pitchers, Mason Montgomery in the first inning and Evan Sisk in the second, before turning to Carmen Mlodzinski for five frames.

From there, Dennis Santana came in for the eighth and Yohan Ramirez pitched the ninth, totaling five players Rodriguez had to catch.

After the win, manager Don Kelly complimented Rodriguez for his performance behind the plate.

“It can be tough to do,” Kelly said. “The Rockies, they’re tough because they can go back and forth, match up pretty well. To have multiple pitchers come in throughout with different stuff, I thought Endy did a great job receiving but also calling the game. All those guys have different stuff.”

Some teammates more than others are aware of the specifics surrounding Rodriguez’s last two seasons, nearly all of which were lost due to injuries.

All of that adversity has severely blunted the trajectory of a talent who was Pittsburgh’s minor league player of the year in 2022.

Rodriguez, who rose to the Pirates’ No. 2 overall prospect in 2023, found himself having become something of an afterthought during his elongated injury recoveries, as new waves of Pirates prospects climbed to the big leagues.

But Rodriguez persevered and his presence on the diamond Thursday, coupled with an impressive offensive and defensive performance, did not go unnoticed.

“It went great, (and) it was good to see him back out there,” Mlodzinski said. “I know it’s been a little bit of a grind for him with the last few years, with some injuries to his arm. I think at the end of the day, everybody’s just happy he’s back in the big leagues. I think he’s a special player.

“I don’t want to say he’s got swept under the rug a little bit, but he was, in a sense, a superstar coming up. He’s a special player in my mind. I think he’s going to keep getting reps, keep getting better and everybody’s just happy to see him back out there at the end of the day.”

Rodriguez’s call-up coincided with fellow catcher Joey Bart heading to the 10-day injured list with a foot infection.

As of Thursday, Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said there was no timetable for Bart’s return to action.

So for the time being, that means Rodriguez could carve out a role for himself alongside Henry Davis.

It’ll be up to Kelly to handle the splitting of those duties, but suffice to say, Rodriguez made a good first impression.

“The last couple years, as we know, dealing with the injuries and the way that he’s gone through it and gone about it with the attitude that he has, the energy – he’s so positive,” Kelly said. “It’s really cool to see him have that game today. To come up and hit the ground running. Couple hits, played really well defensively, caught the ball well, called a good game.”

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