The O’s fell out of first place, Grayson Rodriguez is hurt, and everything is terrible.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Oof. The Orioles’ opening game in Toronto…could have gone better.
It’s bad enough that the O’s lost to a last-place team thanks to Gregory Soto’s latest implosion. It’s bad enough that Brandon Hyde had possibly the worst-managed game of his career, making a series of inexplicable pinch-hitting decisions in the eighth that cost the Orioles a chance at a rally. And it’s bad enough that the Birds fell out of first place for the first time since June 26, dropping a half game behind the Yankees, who were rained out.
But all of that pales in comparison to what could be the biggest blow to the Orioles: a Grayson Rodriguez lat injury that forced him to miss his scheduled start and — depending on the severity — could sideline him for significantly longer. Rodriguez came down with the injury while warming up just minutes before game time, telling pitching coach Drew French, “I don’t feel right.” He previously suffered a lat strain in June 2022 while pitching for Triple-A Norfolk, costing him almost the entire rest of the season and ruining his hopes for a big-league call-up that year.
After the game, the Orioles announced that Rodriguez is on his way back to Baltimore to get imaging done, so we should expect an update later today or tomorrow. Orioles fans will be holding their breath, hoping that the news isn’t as dire as we all fear. For a team that’s already been afflicted by a torrent of season-ending pitcher injuries this year, from Kyle Bradish to John Means to Tyler Wells, an extended loss of their second-best starting pitcher could prove to be a death knell for the Orioles’ pursuit of a championship.
Grayson was expected to be a key part of the Birds’ push for the postseason and to be their Game 2 starter once they got there. Now an O’s rotation that had just gotten a bit stronger at the trade deadline, with the acquisitions of Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers, could be thrown into chaos again. Beyond Corbin Burnes — whom the Orioles ought to cover in bubble wrap at this point, just to be safe — the O’s starting staff consists of a lot of mid- to back-end types of pitchers who don’t have the potential for dominance that Rodriguez brings.
Perhaps, for once, fortune will shine upon an O’s pitcher and Rodriguez’s injury will turn out to be just a mild setback that requires only the minimal IL stay. But forgive me if I’m not optimistic. I don’t know what the Orioles did to incur the wrath of the baseball gods this year, but this really stinks.
Links
Grayson Rodriguez scratched from start in Toronto and Albert Suárez starts (O’s lose 5-2) – Steve Melewski
Among the Orioles’ postgame quotes, Brandon Hyde tries (and mostly fails) to explain his reasoning for pinch-hitting for both Jackson Holliday and Colton Cowser in the eighth.
Orioles’ Chayce McDermott lands on IL with shoulder injury – The Baltimore Sun
If you thought the Rodriguez injury might open up another MLB opportunity for Chayce McDermott, no dice. The pitching prospect landed on the IL himself with a stress reaction in his shoulder, which sounds bad.
What’s next after Rodriguez is scratched from start with lat discomfort? – School of Roch
What’s next for me is that I give up on the 2024 Orioles season and devote all my time to, like, knitting.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have a plethora of Orioles birthday buddies — eight of ’em in all. That includes the late Don Larsen (b. 1929, d. 2020), famous for throwing a perfect game in the World Series with the Yankees, who prior to that had a 21-loss season for the O’s in 1954. Other Orioles born on Aug. 7 include catchers Ryan Lavarnway (37) and Gerónimo Gil (49), lefty Wade LeBlanc (40), righty Jason Grimsley (57), and the late outfielder Tex Nelson (b. 1936, d. 2011) and righties Art Houtteman (b. 1927, d. 2003) and Bob Alexander (b. 1922, d. 1993).
On this date in 2016, Manny Machado crushed three home runs in the first three innings of the Orioles’ 10-2 rout of the White Sox. His first two came against Chicago starter James Shields, a two-run shot in the first and a three-run blast in the second, and he followed with a two-run dinger off former Oriole Matt Albers in the third, giving him seven RBIs. Machado got three more at-bats in the game but didn’t hit a fourth homer. Ugh, what a bust.
And this day in 2019 was an ugly one for the Orioles in all kinds of ways. The Yankees continued their season-long annihilation of O’s pitching, hitting five homers to give them 16 in the three-game series, tying an MLB record, and 52 against the Orioles that year, setting a new MLB mark for most dingers against a single opponent. It was their 12th straight win against the Orioles and 15th straight at Camden Yards. Oh, and Brandon Hyde and Chris Davis nearly came to blows in the dugout during the game. Like I said…rough night.
Random Orioles game of the day
On Aug. 7, 1998, the Orioles crushed the Twins in Minnesota, 16-9. The O’s scored in seven of their nine innings, including multiple runs in six of them. Every Birds starter collected at least one hit, and nobody was more productive than Brady Anderson, who had one of the best games of his career. Anderson crushed two home runs, two doubles, and a single for an astounding 13 total bases, scoring three runs and driving in four. Hall of Famers Cal Ripken and Harold Baines also homered, and Baines had five RBIs. The offensive explosion made up for a rough outing by O’s starter and former Twin Scott Erickson, who gave up five runs in the first inning.