The Baltimore Orioles will be without one of their top starters to begin the regular season. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez is dealing with an issue near the back of his elbow and will begin the season on the injured list, the team announced Friday. He is still going through tests to determine the exact nature and extent of the injury. On Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Rodriguez is being shut down for seven to 10 days after receiving a cortisone shot in his elbow. Assuming he progresses as anticipated, he’ll begin a throwing program after that shutdown period ends.
Rodriguez said he “felt pretty sluggish” following his most recent spring start this past Wednesday. The 25-year-old pitcher has a lengthy arm injury history, including a bout of shoulder inflammation early last year and a lat strain that ended his season in early August. He also missed about three months with a lat strain while in the minors back in 2022.
Last season Rodriguez made 20 starts before the lat injury, pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 116 ⅔ innings. He was positioned to have a breakout season in 2025 and become a bona fide top-of-the-rotation starter. Instead, he’ll start the season on the shelf. Baltimore’s rotation depth chart currently looks something like this:
- RHP Zach Eflin
RHP Grayson Rodriguez(will start season on the injured list)- RHP Charlie Morton
- RHP Dean Kremer
- RHP Tomoyuki Sugano
- RHP Albert Suárez
- LHP Cade Povich
LHP Trevor Rogers(out with knee injury)
Suárez and Povich could both make the Opening Day roster. Suárez is out of options, meaning he must pass through waivers to go to Triple-A, and the O’s won’t risk losing him. It could be Povich as the No. 5 starter and Suárez in the bullpen to begin the season. Last year Suárez pitched to a 3.70 ERA in 133 ⅔ innings spread across 24 starts and eight relief appearances.
“That’s why you have to have as much starting pitching depth as possible,” Hyde said (via MLB.com). “It’s unfortunate with Grayson. We’re hoping for the best. But like I’ve said a lot, we’re going to be needing more than five starters all year. We’re going to need guys to step up.”
In other Orioles injury news, setup man Andrew Kittredge recently underwent left knee debridement surgery and will be sidelined long-term. He was slated to serve as a late-inning bridge to closer Félix Bautista. That responsibility will now fall to lefties Keegan Akin and Gregory Soto, and righties Yennier Cano and Seranthony Domínguez.
Kittredge, 35 later this month, signed a one-year contract worth $10 million this offseason. He threw 70 ⅔ innings with a 2.80 ERA for the St. Louis Cardinals last season. Kittredge, Morton ($15 million), and Sugano ($13 million) were Baltimore’s major offseason pitching additions. The three veterans all signed one-year contracts.
The O’s are hardly the only AL East team dealing with injuries. The New York Yankees have lost Gerrit Cole (elbow) and Giancarlo Stanton (elbow) this spring, among others, and the Boston Red Sox will be without Wilyer Abreu (illness), Brayan Bello (shoulder), and Kutter Crawford (knee) to begin the season.
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