Orioles Call Up Top Prospect Grayson Rodriguez

Orioles Call Up Top Prospect Grayson Rodriguez

The Baltimore Orioles are calling up top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez to make his major league debut for the club against the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez, 23, is making his MLB debut as the seventh-ranked prospect in the entire sport, and the second-highest-ranked pitcher, according to MLB.com. He was selected 11th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. Rodriguez was called up to fill the shoes of Kyle Bradish, who had to leave his start with a foot contusion. Tyler Wells relived Bradish, which means Wells can’t start tomorrow, leaving the opportunity to Rodriguez.

Who will be on the bump opposing the youngster? Jacob deGrom.

Spring Struggles

Rodriguez had the chance to make the Orioles club on Opening Day but struggled in Spring Training. He had a 7.04 ERA in 15 1/3 innings, prompting the Orioles to leave him in Triple-A.

“He just didn’t really have a good start this spring, and kind of didn’t get out of the fourth inning,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said. “It seemed like the second time through the order, that third inning, was an issue. I thought he didn’t establish his slider as well as we’ve seen him do in the past. Command wasn’t as good as we’ve seen him do in the past.”

This quote from Elias is referencing Rodriguez’s struggles in his final outing of Spring Training, a start against the Tigers.

Rodriguez also struggled in his most recent Triple-A start, allowing two earned runs in four innings. He walked four in that game.

Rodriguez has some special stuff on the mound. He’s got traditional power pitcher stuff, including a high 90s fastball, a slider, and a changeup where the bottom falls out of it. Those three pitches helped Rodriguez pitch to a 2.62 ERA in 75 innings, striking out 37 percent of batters faced, a massive number.

Once Rodriguez figures out his command at the major league level, he’s going to be a problem to deal with. This is a prospect that the Orioles are banking on as a huge part of their plans for the future.

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