Orioles supervisor Brandon Hyde offered a troubling replace about right-hander Grayson Rodriguez immediately, with video shared by Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Solar. Hyde says that Rodriguez not too long ago had a facet session canceled attributable to some shoulder soreness and was despatched for an MRI immediately.
The outcomes of that imaging haven’t come again but nevertheless it’s a lower than supreme improvement regardless. Rodriguez began the season on the 15-day injured checklist attributable to some soreness in his elbow/triceps space. He’s been making an attempt to ramp again up recently, throwing bullpen classes, however that now all appears to be up within the air.
For a pitcher to be coping with simultaneous elbow and shoulder troubles is a worrisome state of affairs in any context, nevertheless it’s additionally notable given his observe document. Rodriguez handled shoulder issues at instances final 12 months as effectively. He had a stint of just about three weeks on the IL in Could, with proper shoulder irritation listed as his official ailment. He was again on the IL in early August attributable to proper lat/teres discomfort. The damage was initially described as gentle and the O’s hoped to have him again late within the 12 months however that in the end didn’t come to move. A notable lat pressure additionally impacted him as a prospect in 2022, shutting him down for about three months and delaying his main league debut till the 2023 marketing campaign.
For sure, it’s not what the Orioles need. They got here into this season with Rodriguez and Zach Eflin as the highest two pitchers within the projected rotation. Rodriguez has been out all season together with his elbow irritation and now has shoulder issues on prime of that. Eflin made three begins earlier than himself touchdown on the IL attributable to a lat pressure. He performed catch yesterday for the primary time since that IL placement, per Weyrich, and nonetheless appears to have some packing containers to verify.
There are different accidents as effectively. Kyle Bradish had Tommy John surgical procedure in June of final 12 months and received’t be out there till the second half even in a best-case state of affairs. Tyler Wells additionally had UCL surgical procedure in June of final 12 months. Chayce McDermott is on the IL with a lat pressure, like Eflin. Trevor Rogers is on the IL with kneecap subluxation. Swingman Albert Suárez can also be on the shelf, in his case attributable to shoulder irritation.
Going into the offseason, many observers anticipated the O’s to be aggressive in including to their rotation. They’d misplaced Bradish to his surgical procedure and Corbin Burnes to free company. With a brand new proprietor in place, it was anticipated that some new payroll parameters might permit them to play on the prime or maybe the center of the free agent market.
As an alternative, the O’s added some veteran back-end guys. They gave a one-year deal to 41-year-old Charlie Morton and one other one-year pact to Tomoyuki Sugano. The latter is a bit youthful than the previous however is 35 and got here into this 12 months with no massive league expertise, seeking to make the transfer from Japan.
With all of the accidents, issues aren’t going nice. Morton has an 8.84 ERA so far. Sugano’s 3.86 ERA appears higher however an 84.2% strand fee helps him work round an 8.1% strikeout fee. Cade Povich has stepped up and posted a strong 3.60 ERA in three begins however Dean Kremer is at 6.41.
Kyle Gibson will be a part of the group ultimately however he’s nonetheless build up attributable to a late signing. He obtained as much as 3 2/3 innings in his most up-to-date minor league begin. Brandon Younger has no main league expertise however is on the 40-man and placing up good numbers in Triple-A. Cody Poteet can also be on the 40-man however has been working in reduction within the minors, with 9 earned runs allowed in 5 innings.
The season continues to be very younger however the O’s are 7-10 and at present within the basement of a really aggressive American League East. They entered spring coaching with a top-heavy rotation that includes two front-end guys in Rodriguez and Eflin and a whole lot of back-end candidates, although they’ve gotten virtually nothing from that Eflin/Rodriguez duo thus far. Ideally, each shall be getting again to the staff within the coming weeks/months, however this replace provides an unsettling stage of uncertainty.
