At home in Venezuela, a Giants prospect details the uncertainty in his country
Giants prospect Jesús Rodríguez says that life in Caracas is now calm and he hopes to be in the U.S. for spring training next month.
While former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center following a nighttime U.S. military operation that removed him and his wife from Caracas and brought them to New York to face narco-terrorism charges, those back home watched the situation closely. The couple pleaded not guilty in their first court appearance, with Maduro firmly asserting that he remains “the president of my country.”
The situation has left the future of Venezuela shrouded in uncertainty, especially in light of President Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. would “run” the country.
The upheaval has reached Venezuelan athletes, including Major League Baseball players. Those who had returned home to take part in the Venezuelan Winter League suddenly faced not only the shock of the operation itself but also the anxiety of whether they could return to the United States for spring training next month or the World Baseball Classic in March, leaving their professional teams in a state of tension.
Amid the turmoil, The Athletic conducted an exclusive interview with Venezuelan catcher Jesús Rodríguez, one of the San Francisco Giants’ top prospects. Rodríguez shared what things were like in Caracas in the wake of the attack and expressed optimism that he could return to the United States in the coming days to join his team for spring training in Arizona.
What went through your mind when the attacks began?
The first thing that goes through your mind is to thank God that we weren’t right there where it all happened, because I live in Caracas and we were close to one of the places that was bombed, but thank God we weren’t there. … The second thing was how it was all going to play out, if I was going to be able to leave the country, if I was going to be active on flights. … Those were the things that went through my mind, trying to leave the country when it was my turn to leave in the best way possible.
Excited to see what Jesus Rodriguez does in his first full season with the Giants org. The 23-year-old looked great in AAA last season.
.271 xBA
13.6% K%
16.1% Whiff%
94.24% Z-Contact%
5.07% SwStr%.322/.399/.401 slashline in his first 39 games with Sacramento👀 pic.twitter.com/Pe6jiUS6Mr
— Tobey Schulman (@tschulmanreport) November 12, 2025
How did the Giants contact you after the bombings?
When it was all happening at around 5 or 6 in the morning, my agent wrote to me, several coaches from the team wrote to me to check on me, the organization called my agent and well, my agent called me. They were there for me from the moment they found out about everything that was happening. They called me. They contacted me. … They said they would let me know when they could send me the ticket because I was thinking of leaving before spring training, on the 20th of this month, to the complex in the United States to train there (in Scottsdale, Ariz.) and wait for spring training there.