This week’s poll question is a simple yes or no.
One unfortunate Orioles tradition in recent years is that when there is a player who was once a hyped top prospect who ends up being injured all of the time, I will get a text from my dad once he hears about the latest injury on sports talk radio that says: “What’s up with this guy? Is he ever going to play?” The guy who started this all was Dylan Bundy. Hunter Harvey fit the bill as well. A couple of years ago, it was Heston Kjerstad. Now, it’s Grayson Rodriguez.
The case of Rodriguez is a little different than these others since at this point, he’s not some unknown prospect quantity. He pitched for the Orioles over the past two seasons and was expected to be contributing this season too. The front office’s behavior over the offseason seemed to point to a belief that Rodriguez would be capable of stepping in as a top of the rotation starter. Or at least that’s what I guess based on the fact that they didn’t bother to sign or acquire one.
Still: The guy has been hurt a lot. Finding out if Rodriguez could be ace or ace-adjacent was knocked off track in spring training when he developed what the team called elbow inflammation. While rehabbing that injury, he suffered a lat injury. The lat plagued him in 2022, knocking a probable MLB debut back to the next season. It cut short his 2024 season as well, ultimately keeping him from contributing to either the stretch run or the postseason.
For this week’s poll question, a simple yes or no. Will Grayson Rodriguez pitch for the 2025 Orioles?
It is now mid-June, headed towards late June, and we haven’t seen Rodriguez pitch yet. There is no timetable for when he might get back into action. Until a few days ago, all there was is three months of media silence from Rodriguez. That was broken late last week, when Rodriguez confidently claimed to Orioles reporters, “I’m definitely gonna pitch this year.” It’s an awfully low bar when compared to the hopes that were pinned on him back in February as camp opened.
One piece of apparent good news from that scrum is that Rodriguez said he has moved past the elbow inflammation that sent him on the injured list in the first place. Interim manager Tony Mansolino was a bit more vague about that last week. So, if Rodriguez’s optimism about that bears out, it shouldn’t be a recurring concern, any more than the elbow is a concern about any pitcher.
What is not good news is the way that Rodriguez is talking about how he and the team haven’t even totally sorted out the lat issue yet. That injury cropped up so long ago that Brandon Hyde was still the manager when it was first reported. Quoting from MASN’s Roch Kubatko’s article I linked previously, Rodriguez said of his current status:
Right now it’s just focusing on the lat, trying to figure out exactly what might be causing it, whether it’s mechanical or something we’re doing in the weight room or something prep-wise. Right now just trying to figure out exactly what’s causing it. … A lot of writing down, trying to figure out exactly what you did, whether it’s biomechanics stuff or it just goes back to a prep routine, trying to get warmed up or a weight lifting type of deal. Everything’s on the table. Just trying to narrow it down and figure out why it keeps happening.
No wonder there is not currently any kind of timeline for when Rodriguez will be back to pitching. This doesn’t sound like a guy who is on the verge of returning. It’s not often to have a player on the injured list where this is the kind of stuff that is said by or about them on their road to return. Mostly, an injury is diagnosed, an amount of time passes where that heals, and then the player gets working towards a return.
It seems from his own words that Rodriguez and the Orioles haven’t got a handle on how to stop re-injuring the lat. Kubatko noted that there had been a bullpen session scheduled that was canceled due to continuing discomfort for Rodriguez, which knocked the progression back to zero. It makes sense, then, that part of the reset is figuring out what is causing the injury. Not having figured that out by now is not an encouraging sign for Rodriguez pitching this year.
What do you think will end up happening here? The poll is above and the comments are open below.