The Baltimore Orioles will soon call up right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner reports. According to Kostka, Rodriguez is expected to make his first major-league start on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET against Jacob deGrom.
Entering the 2023 season, Rodriguez was widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. Here's what our expert R.J. Anderson wrote about Rodriguez in ranking the 23-year-old as the No. 7 overall prospect in the game:
Rodriguez would have debuted at some point last season had he not been sidelined in June by a right lat strain. (He returned in September for a series of minor-league appearances.) Rodriguez has a power pitcher's frame and an impressive arsenal that includes three well-above-average or better pitches: an upper-90s fastball, a slider, and a changeup. That trio empowered him to strike out 37 percent of the batters he faced last season, all the while amassing a 2.62 ERA in 75 innings. The Orioles will likely look to limit his workload, as he's never thrown more than 103 innings in a season. He should debut early in the year with an eye on becoming a frontline starter.
The Orioles originally selected Rodriguez with the 11th overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft. Across parts of five minor-league seasons, he's pitched to a 2.49 ERA and 4.13 K/BB ratio in 69 starts and one relief appearance. His first start of the 2023 season came at the Triple-A level, and he wasn't quite up to his usual standards. However, that particular hiccup doesn't seem to have altered the Orioles' plans for him.
Baltimore emerged as surprise contenders in 2022 thanks to their impressive young core, but club ownership and the front office under Mike Elias declined to do much of note this past offseason. The promotion of Rodriguez, if he's able to find his level in short order, should improve a rotation that badly needed winter upgrades but didn't get any.
