After adding starting pitchers Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers ahead of last week’s trade deadline, the Orioles have a new concern regarding their revamped rotation.
And it’s a significant one.
Minutes before the start of Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto, scheduled starter Grayson Rodriguez was scratched with what the club described as “right lat/teres discomfort,” which led to right-hander Albert Suarez making an emergency start in his place. And while Suarez pitched five shutout innings in the 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays, the story after the game was the health of the 24-year-old Rodriguez moving forward.
Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters in Toronto that Rodriguez would return to Baltimore for further evaluation while “hoping everything works out OK.”
“He’s been feeling fine. He threw a really good bullpen in Cleveland,” said Hyde when asked if anything had been bothering his No. 2 starter recently. “It just kind of came up tonight while he was warming up.”
For what it’s worth, it was a Grade 2 lat strain that cost Rodriguez three months of game action during the 2022 season when he was pitching at Triple-A Norfolk and on the verge of being promoted to the majors in early June. The 2018 first-round pick was able to return to the mound to pitch in five minor-league games that September, but lat injuries frequently sideline pitchers for extended periods of time, meaning one of consequence could easily jeopardize Rodriguez’s availability for the rest of the season.
In May, Rodriguez spent 2 1/2 weeks on the injured list with what was labeled right shoulder inflammation, but he’d made 14 straight starts since returning without any apparent issues. In 20 starts covering 116 2/3 innings this season, Rodriguez has gone 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA and has averaged 10.0 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings.
Of course, the contending Orioles have already endured multiple losses to their starting rotation with 2023 ace Kyle Bradish, 2019 All-Star lefty John Means, and right-hander Tyler Wells all undergoing season-ending elbow surgeries that will sideline them into 2025. Losing Rodriguez would be an excruciating blow to the Orioles’ hopes of making a deep October run, especially after general manager Mike Elias just acquired Eflin to slot behind All-Star ace Corbin Burnes and Rodriguez for a potential postseason rotation.
Tuesday also brought news that pitching prospect Chayce McDermott was going on the Triple-A injured list with a “right scapula stress reaction,” further depleting Baltimore’s pitching depth for the stretch run.
