Francisco José Rodríguez Sr. (born January 7, 1982), nicknamed "K-Rod", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher.

Originally a starting pitcher, Rodríguez moved to relief pitching in 2002 after elbow and shoulder injuries shortened his 2001 minor league season with the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Because Rodríguez had played very little in the major leagues, hitters in the postseason had very little idea what to expect from him, a situation that often favors the pitcher.

On August 24, 2004, he became the sixth pitcher in the Angels' 44-year history to strike out at least 100 batters in a season without starting a game — joining Mark Clear (105 in 1980), DeWayne Buice (109, 1987), Bryan Harvey (101, 1991), Troy Percival (100, 1996), and Scot Shields (109, also in 2004).

On September 10 against the Toronto Blue Jays, he became the youngest closer in Major League Baseball history, at the age 24 years and 246 days, to accumulate 100 career saves.

Rodriguez held this record until April 10, 2018, when Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna acquired his 100th career save.

[2] At the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco, Rodriguez was named as one of three Angels to represent the club, along with teammates Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey.

In the 2007 American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox, Rodriguez pitched only 1⁄3 of an inning with an ERA accumulating 54.00.

[4] He was a member of the American League All-Star Team for the third time and made a brief appearance in the game, facing two batters while walking one.

[9] On September 2, 2008, Rodríguez saved his 200th career game (54th of the season), becoming the youngest player in history to reach that number.

[10] On September 10, 2008, while facing the New York Yankees, Rodríguez saved his 56th game of the season and clinched the American League Western Division title for the Angels.

[11] On September 11, 2008, while facing the Seattle Mariners, Rodríguez saved his 57th game of the season, tying Bobby Thigpen's 1990 major league record.

[13] On September 20, 2008, Rodríguez became the first pitcher to reach 60 saves in a season when he closed out a 7–3 victory against the Texas Rangers.

On September 30, 2009, Rodríguez surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Justin Maxwell to cap a five-run ninth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals to a 7–4 victory over the Mets.

This made him the first pitcher to allow two walk-off grand slams in one season since Lee Smith did in 1995 (on August 7, Rodriguez surrendered a grand slam to Everth Cabrera with no outs to cap another five-run ninth inning that gave the San Diego Padres a 6–2 win over the Mets).

On July 12, 2011, immediately following the All-Star Game, Rodríguez was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers along with cash, for Adrian Rosario and Danny Herrera.

On July 23, 2013, the Brewers traded Rodríguez to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league prospect Nicky Delmonico.

On June 8, Rodríguez recorded his 359th career save, moving him past Troy Percival and into ninth place on the all-time list.

[citation needed] On November 18, 2015, Rodríguez was traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Javier Betancourt and Manny Piña.

[34] On May 24, Rodríguez recorded his 400th career save, becoming just the sixth pitcher in Major League Baseball history to reach the milestone.

[42] On January 29, 2018, Rodríguez signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies with an invite to spring training.

[44] On April 30, 2018, Rodríguez signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

"[52] During batting practice the following day Rodríguez confronted Bruney on the field, pointing and shouting at him before teammates from both sides separated the two.

[53] In May 2010, Rodríguez and bullpen coach Randy Niemann got into a heated exchange while the pitcher was preparing to enter a game.

[54] On August 11, 2010, Rodríguez was arrested after allegedly assaulting Carlos Peña, the father of his girlfriend Daian Pena, after the Mets lost a game at Citi Field.

[55] Rodríguez remained in police custody at Citi Field on a charge of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor in the state of New York, and was arraigned that afternoon.

The Mets suspended him and placed him on the team's restricted list for two days, which meant he would forfeit two games' salary.

"Ownership and the organization are very disappointed in Francisco's inappropriate behavior and we take the matter very seriously", team chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said.

[60] Rodriguez was charged with domestic violence in Wisconsin relating to a September 17, 2012, incident in which he allegedly hit and kicked the mother of his child.

[61] Charges were subsequently dropped against Rodriguez when the victim and another witness, a housekeeper, both returned to Venezuela and did not respond to the district attorney on the case.