Grayson Rodriguez’s much-anticipated arrival to the major leagues will have to wait, as Orioles manager Brandon Hyde informed the top pitching prospect Monday morning that he would instead begin the season in Triple-A.
Rodriguez entered spring training competing for a spot in the rotation, with Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias repeatedly saying in the offseason that he wanted the 6-foot-5 right-hander to break camp in the major leagues.
But the Orioles instead chose to send Rodriguez, a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball, back to the minors after the 23-year-old struggled this spring.
“Any time you have those type of conversations, it’s not easy. I think, like all of our guys, he handled it like a pro, and we’ll move on from there,” said Hyde, who deferred to Elias for other questions regarding Rodriguez.
Elias is scheduled to speak to the media Monday afternoon.
In 15 1/3 spring training innings, Rodriguez allowed 17 hits and 12 earned runs while walking seven and striking out 19. He still displayed the pitch arsenal — the hard fastball and devastating changeup — that has made him one of the top young arms in the sport, with veteran catcher James McCann saying earlier this month that his “elite” stuff is major league ready.
However, in each of his final three starts, Rodriguez got into trouble and unraveled when facing the lineup a second time, giving up a crooked number in an inning each time. He gave up four runs without getting an out in the fourth inning on March 12. He also surrendered five runs (two earned) while getting just two outs in the fourth of his next start and then allowed five runs in the third of his final spring start.
One potential factor for the club is Rodriguez’s service time. If he debuts before April 14 and remains in the majors for the remainder of the year, Rodriguez would hit free agency after the 2028 season. But if the Orioles wait until April 14 or later to call him up, Rodriguez would not become a free agent until after the 2029 campaign — unless he finishes first or second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.
It looked likely last season that Rodriguez was going to receive his call-up to the majors in the second half of the year, as the organization did with outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Gunnar Henderson. But he suffered a lat muscle strain while pitching for Norfolk on June 1 and missed three months.
Rodriguez now heads back to Norfolk to pitch in Triple-A — a level he seemingly mastered last year with a 2.20 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings. In his minor league career, Rodriguez has averaged an eye-popping 12.9 strikeouts and just 5.5 hits per nine innings.
The news of Rodriguez being sent down to Triple-A comes one day after the team did the same with DL Hall, the Orioles’ No. 2 pitching prospect. The Orioles are committed to ramping up Hall, who had a slow start to camp with a lower back injury, as a starter and decided that doing so in Triple-A would be easier than in the big league bullpen.
The decision likely means that Tyler Wells, who was one of the Orioles’ best starting pitchers in the first half of 2022, will make the rotation. The club’s other confirmed starters are Kyle Gibson, who is set to start opening day March 30 against the Boston Red Sox, and Dean Kremer, who will slot in behind Gibson in the rotation. Kyle Bradish and Cole Irvin are also expected to be in the rotation.
This story will be updated.
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