Emmanuel Rodriguez’s moment in the Majors finally arrived on Saturday afternoon -- and he’s already living up to the hype. The Twins’ No. 5 prospect was called up from Triple-A St. Paul and made his MLB debut in a 4-3 victory over the Guardians at Target Field. After being limited to 353 career Minor League games in six seasons due to injuries, Rodriguez was intent on making his impact known right away. Rodriguez batted ninth and played center field for his MLB debut. While many fans will be excited to see the skill set at the plate, Rodriguez will keep in mind the one thing that’s made the game so important to him over the years: Having fun. "After all these hard-working years and all the time it's taken, I still want to enjoy myself," Rodriguez said before the game through teammate Pablo López. "It's going to be a big moment, but I just want to take the field, enjoy and do my baseball thing." In his first MLB at-bat in the bottom of the third, Rodriguez hit a Statcast-projected 420-foot home run on a 2-1 fastball off right-hander Franco Aleman to tie the game at 1-1. Rodriguez’s wife and son were there for his debut, along with his parents and an aunt and uncle. “It was mesmerizing,” Rodriguez said postgame. “I was joking with my family, and they were joking with me, 'Can you imagine if you hit a homer in your first at-bat?' It's probably one of those ways that baseball can make things happen.” Rodriguez became the first Twin since Eddie Rosario in 2015 to hit a home run in his first plate appearance, and the first Twin since his teammate Kaelen Culpepper on Aug. 7 to hit a home run in his first MLB game.
