TACOMA — Jose Rodriguez always looked up to Felix Hernandez, studying Hernandez’s pitching techniques while watching him play in the Venezuelan Winter League in his hometown of Bolivar.
Rodriguez got the closest to meeting his idol on Monday, when his Salt Lake Bees, a Class AAA team, played against the Tacoma Rainiers in Hernandez’s final minor-league outing of the season. Rodriguez, a right-handed pitcher in his sixth professional season, spent the game charting his team’s pitching from inside the visitor’s clubhouse.
“I didn’t feel like I was watching him in the minor leagues,” Rodriguez said. “He didn’t look different from how he does in the big leagues.