BALTIMORE— Ending his silence after more than three months, Oriole starter Grayson Rodriguez said he was optimistic that he’d pitch in the second half of the season.
Rodriguez, who is on the 60-day injured list, said his right elbow has healed, and that he is focused on rehabbing his lat injury.
“Throwing, throwing every day. Right now feeling good,” Rodriguez said on Friday. “In the next week, probably get off the mound, start throwing some ‘pens.”
Rodriguez wouldn’t offer a timetable on when he’ll pitch for the first time in 2025, but said he’s targeting the second half.
“Absolutely. I’m pretty confident with that,” he said. “I don’t really have a week specific. Definitely going to pitch this year.”
Last season, Rodriguez didn’t pitch after July 31st because of a lat injury. It’s the third lat injury in four seasons for the 25-year-old right-hander.
“This one is similar to last year, very minor,” Rodriguez said. “Then again, you don’t want it to happen again because it could turn into something bigger, so right now trying to figure out why it keeps happening, how I can eliminate in the future.”
Rodriguez’s injury is listed as right elbow inflammation.
“Right now, it’s just the lat. We’re past the elbow stuff,” Rodriguez said. “We were able to get that handled. Right now we’re focusing on the lat, kind of figuring out what exactly might be causing it, whether it’s mechanical or something we’re doing in the weight room or something prep-wise. Right now, just figuring out exactly what’s causing it.”
Interim manager Tony Mansolino shares Rodriguez’s hope that he can pitch in the second half.
“I think there is optimism in the building that we’re going to see him in the second half without a doubt,” Mansolino said. “Rehabs aren’t super perfect.
“The expectation that every injury is going to go perfect and every rehab is going to go perfect, it’s unrealistic. The human body heals differently. In Grayson’s case, he had the elbow. He was cooking. He was moving. Here comes the lat. It’s another kind of wrench in the plans.”
Rodriguez left a Grapefruit League game on March 5th against Minnesota in Fort Myers, saying afterward he felt “sluggish,” and then there were concerns about the shoulder, elbow and now, lat.
“It was a next-day type of thing,” Rodriguez said. “It wasn’t while I was throwing. That’s good. I can’t really put a specific pitch or a specific bullpen on it, but just feeling it creep up a little bit and getting an MRI, seeing what’s there and trying to tone it back down and get to work on it.”
There have been many reports on Rodriguez, and intimations that he would return soon, but he’s more optimistic now.
“Maybe my mechanics were a little out of whack,” he said. “Not staying close front-side. There were a number of different things from that end of that. I think my body wasn’t necessarily moving right and right now, the point I’m at is a lot better than where I was at that moment, so right now I’m pretty confident in what I’m doing. Looking to get out there pretty quick.”
Rodriguez hasn’t gone down to Sarasota to rehab. Instead, he’s been in Baltimore with the team.
“It’s tough. Mentally, the hardest part is not being able to be out there with the guys,” Rodriguez said. “You show up every day and you want to play, and when you’re on the IL, it’s just the worst thing.
“We have a lot of good guys in this clubhouse that are helping me through it. It’s mentally tough. Mentally it’s pretty hard showing up and knowing that you’re going to pitch this week or something like that. I guess grinding through it is all you can do. Just focus on getting better and getting back out there.”
Rodriguez is 20-8 in his career with a 4.11 ERA in 43 starts, and the onetime top pitching prospect in the minor leagues wants to make sure the injuries are behind him.
“This is the third time I’ve had a lat issue in four years,” he said. “We’re trying to just eliminate it and figure out why it keeps happening. I think it’s a very hard thing to figure out, whether it’s mechanics or some type of lifting program in the weight room. It’s kind of hard to put your finger on it, but being able to navigate it and figure it out along the way is something that we’ve been able to do.”
Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells are possibilities for the starting rotation in the second half of the season. Bradish and Wells are rehabbing from elbow surgeries that ended their 2024 seasons. Rodriguez thinks the Orioles will be able turn around their season in the second half.
“Absolutely. Without a doubt,” he said. “Obviously we got off to a slow start, but this clubhouse hasn’t changed. It feels like the same clubhouse we had in ’23 or last year. There’s no tension. There’s no drama.
“This is probably one of the clubhouses in baseball there isn’t a guy you don’t like, somebody that’s causing a lot of issues. When you have a good clubhouse like this, you expect to win games and right now we’ve been playing a lot better. I think we’re going to rally, get on a hot streak here, and I think we’re going to finish the season the way we want to.”
Note: Colton Cowser is out of the lineup after he slammed into the center-field wall in Thursday night’s game against the Tigers. Mansolino said Cowser could be available off the bench for Friday night’s game against the Angels.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.