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The disassembling of the prospect group known as the Baby Aces continues, as the Phillies have traded once highly regarded righty hurler Julio Rodriguez to Baltimore for outfielder Ronnie Welty . Rodriguez once dominated Class A ball, but looked far more human with Double-A Reading last season. Drafted in the 8th round of the 2008 amateur draft, the Puerto Rican born pitcher finished with an overall record of 7-3 with a 1.89 ERA and a .175 batting average against in 20 outings with Williamsport and Lakewood in 2010. The following season, Rodriguez was named a Florida State League All-Star, as he finished with a league leading 16 wins, a 2.76 ERA that was second best in the league and a .186 batting average against. Over those two seasons, he averaged a 10.71 K/9 mark. Last year in the Eastern League, Rodriguez wrapped up his 2012 regular season campaign with a 7-7 record, a 4.23 ERA and a .243 batting average against, following a difficult eight-game stretch (6.81 ERA) that go...

Puerto Rican born starting pitcher Julio Rodriguez grew up dreaming of becoming a baseball star. These days, he is among the core of young Philadelphia pitching prospects that have begun to get a lot of attention after some considerable success in recent years and he is happy to now be standing out practically in the Phillies' back yard. Last year, with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, the 6-foot-4-inch 230-pounder led the Florida State League in wins when he posted a 16-7 record with a 2.76 ERA and a .186 batting average against. The season before that, Rodriguez split time at short-season Williamsport and with Class A Lakewood, where he combined to post a 7-3 record with a 1.89 ERA in 20 games (12 starts). Prior to that he played two seasons with the Gulf Coast League Phillies. In those areas, fan attention toward rising prospects isn’t very prevalent. Things would certainly change when Rodriguez came north to show what he's all about. Having never possessed ...