On Oct 31st, 2024, the RailCats re-signed INF Howard Rodriguez for his 2nd season and 1st full season, as he played 33 games last year with the ‘Cats and signed on June 18th. The RailCats also signed LHP Grant Umberger from Chesterfield, PA, who finished his college career at Toledo.

Howard Rodriguez played 33 games last season for the RailCats. He was brought in on June 18th along with 4 other players as the RailCats traveled to Winnipeg, as a handful of RailCats players had to stay back due to having VISA issues that did not allow them to go to Canada.

Howard was released on August 11th but was re-signed again on August 20th as the RailCats traveled back to Winnipeg, and he remained on the roster through the rest of the season.

Looking at his 2024 season stats, he played in 33 games, had 103 At-Bats, 24 Hits, scored 14 runs, 5 doubles, 1 home run, 9 RBIs, 7 stolen bases, got caught stealing 3 times, walked 10 times while striking out 28. He slashed a .233/.319/.311 and an OPS of .630.

What Howard can bring to the RailCats roster is versatility, speed, and a solid glove on the field. He has a drive to improve every day and will give you everything he has game in and game out. He has a great attitude, which is something the RailCats have strived for over the past couple of seasons. I know he will be competing for a spot on the opening day roster. WELCOME BACK TO THE SOUTH SHORE!!

Grant Umberger, a left-handed pitcher 23 years of age from Chesterfield, PA, played 4 years of college baseball. He played for Virginia Tech from 2021-2023 before transferring to Toledo for the 2024 season. After college, he went to the MLB Draft League when he played for The Mahoning Valley Scrappers over the summer.

Looking at his career stats, in college he had a 7-6 record, an ERA of 4.62, appeared in 49 games, and started in 17. He was mostly a relief pitcher with VT as he only started in 2 games in 2023. For Toledo, he started in all 15 games he played. Also in 2024, he was First-Team All-MAC; he registered a 3.81 ERA, which put him number one in the Top-20 All-MAC Leaders. He pitched a total of 109 innings, gave up 101 hits, 63 runs, 56 ER, 11 HR, walked 66 batters and struck out 126. He had a WHIP of 1.53, H/9 of 8.3, HR/9 of .9, BB/9 of 5.4, and SO/9 of 10.4.

In the MLB Draft League, he had a record of 2 and 2 with an ERA of 3.77 in 8 games where he started in all 8. He pitched in 43 innings, gave up 38 hits, 18 runs given up (all earned), and 0 home runs given up. He walked 22 batters while striking out 52. He had a WHIP of 1.395, H/9 of 8, HR/9 of 0, BB/9 of 4.6, and SO/9 of 10.9.

Grant brings a much-needed left-handed pitcher to the lineup, and it looks like the RailCats are jumping on the starting pitching early as that was a hole in last year’s roster.

WELCOME TO THE SOUTH SHORE!