NEW YORK — Orioles starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez will miss the remainder of the team’s season, manager Brandon Hyde announced before Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees.
“We’re going to, unfortunately, shut him down,” Hyde said. “He’s going to miss the playoffs. We’re going to get him ready for 2025. Just ran out of time with him and it’s disappointing and tough, but he’s so talented and a huge part of our rotation this year and going forward. So, we just ran out of time with him.”
Rodriguez, 24, suffered an injury to his right lat/teres muscle when warming up for a start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 6. The right-hander was slowly working his way back to full health, but he hadn’t progressed fast enough to be ready for the postseason. Rodriguez threw several bullpen sessions, but he never progressed to facing live hitters.
It was the second time in his young professional career that he injured the muscle after a Grade 2 strain sidelined him for three months and delayed his major league debut in 2022.
“It wasn’t a setback,” Hyde said. “It’s normally an injury which takes some time, and to get him back for the playoffs was going to be a little bit of a rush and we just felt like for his health, for his future, it’s the right thing to do.”
A former top prospect and 2018 first-round draft pick, Rodriguez built on his strong rookie campaign by posting a 3.86 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 26 walks over 20 starts this season. Despite missing a little over two weeks with right shoulder inflammation in May, he entered August tied for the MLB lead with 13 wins. However, disaster struck when the Orioles were forced to scratch him minutes before their Aug. 6 game in Toronto, turning to Albert Suárez for an emergency spot start.
His loss is a significant one for an Orioles rotation already without Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells for the rest of the season. Baltimore was already faced the with the possibility of having to shift Rodriguez to the bullpen just to get him back on the field in some capacity, but ultimately the club prioritized his health for 2025 and beyond. The Orioles have Rodriguez under team control through the 2029 season.
Without him, the Orioles are expected to lean on Corbin Burnes, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, Suárez and Cade Povich as their rotation for the final week of the season. Among that group, Kremer is the lone pitcher who was on the Orioles’ roster for their 2023 playoff run. Under the lead of executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, the Orioles traded for Burnes over the offseason, acquired Eflin at the trade deadline, struck gold signing Suárez to a minor league deal and developed Povich into one of the team’s most promising pitching prospects.
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