SAN DIEGO — The comparisons come naturally.Bradgley Rodriguez is a right-handed reliever from Venezuela with a high-effort delivery, wraparound prescription glasses and a devastating changeup. Some fans have taken to calling the San Diego Padres rookie Mini K-Rod or, particularly in his native country, El Mini Kid.But the similarities to a retired closer who displayed those same traits seem more coincidental than deliberate. Francisco Rodríguez began his 16-year career with the then-Anaheim Angels before Bradgley Rodriguez was born.Now, the hard-throwing 22-year-old is crafting his own identity as one of baseball’s most effective relievers.“A lot of people have mentioned that because of the glasses, because of the way I throw, I kind of look like him,” Bradgley Rodriguez said through team interpreter Jorge Merlos. “But no, it’s just myself. I just do the work out there, and it’s just myself, really.”Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla echoed that sentiment.“For me, Bradgley Rodriguez is Bradgley Rodriguez,” he said.Through 60 innings in his first full season, Rodriguez has a 1.95 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings. In another unforeseen convergence, only one reliever 22 or younger has ever finished a big-league season with better numbers across each of those categories.PlayerYRIPERASOWHIPFrancisco Rodriguez2004841.821231.050Bradgley Rodriguez2026601.95651.000Bradgley Rodriguez’s underlying numbers are equally impressive. Just three pitchers — teammate and closer Mason Miller, Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski and Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Jhoan Duran — have a lower expected ERA. Only Miller and Misiorowski have a better expected weighted on-base average than Rodriguez, who averages 90 mph with his signature changeup and can touch triple digits with two types of fastballs.“It’s impressive, his composure on the mound, especially how he battles out there,” said center fielder Jackson Merrill, who, at 23, is the Padres’ second-youngest player. “He’s got ‘it.’ He’s got the ‘it’ factor.”As quickly as Rodriguez has emerged, he did not come out of nowhere. Five years ago, the Padres signed him out of Venezuela for $370,000. Some team officials compared the then-teenager to Luis Patiño, another live-armed pitching prospect who had been traded to acquire Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.Elbow surgery and two lost seasons followed. Then Rodriguez rose through three levels in 2024, earned a pair of brief big-league stints last year and pitched too well this spring to be left off the Opening Day roster.