I loved Bridgewater. I really found myself as a student, a person when I was there. It was a moment in time when I came into who I was as a person, and overall, it was a super positive experience.
Getting cut from the Bridgewater State University baseball team could have been the end of Joshua Rodrigues’ baseball journey. However, for Rodrigues, ’11, G’17, it turned out to be just the beginning.
“It was honestly the best thing to ever happen to me. I am not the greatest player but have a passion for the game,” he said. “Getting cut made me more passionate about coaching. I knew my player career was done, but it also created an opportunity for me.”
Rodrigues came to BSU because he wanted to teach and through word-of-mouth had heard about the school’s highly respected education program.
“Bridgewater has a great reputation for being a teaching school, I knew I wanted to pursue that,” he said. “Teaching, I realized, also gave me the opportunity to also pursue coaching.”
Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history and master’s in education, Rodrigues has gone on to teach technology in Sandwich and Seekonk. The teacher’s schedule also allowed him to coach.
One of his early gigs was assistant coach with the Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod League. From there he found an assistant coaching position at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
“Around that time, I also started a blog and shared professional development ideas that coaches could mimic or do,” Rodrigues said.
Major League Baseball took notice, and soon the double Bear found himself interviewing for a coaching position with the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I was offered and took the job with Tampa. I was a little upset about leaving (Seekonk), I loved the school and my hometown but took a leap of faith that my passion would pay off,” Rodrigues said.
For a year, Rodrigues traveled with the team and helped coaches and players understand game analysis using data and technology. Then COVID hit, and things shifted. Rodrigues decided to come back home to teach and coach.
But in 2023, a friend told him about a position with the Baltimore Orioles, one he thought Rodrigues would be a good match for. He applied, was hired and for three years worked with the organization in the minors, helping players better understand game situations.
“Coaching, it’s just like being in the classroom. I saw my technical skills transfer over into my passion,” he said. “I loved every minute of it…Knowing I was able to help make a player better, how to learn from mistakes. It was great to have that kind of impact.”
After three years of living on the road and being away from his wife Audrey, he decided it was time to take a break and come home. Today he’s back teaching at Seekonk and working as an assistant baseball coach at UMASS Dartmouth.
He hasn’t given up on coaching at the professional level but would like to further explore the collegiate level.
“My passion isn’t ever going to go away. I’d love to be a head coach at a college, even help and give back to my alma mater in some way,” Rodrigues said. “I loved Bridgewater. I really found myself as a student, a person when I was there,” he said. “It was a moment in time when I came into who I was as a person, and overall, it was a super positive experience.”
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