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The Baltimore Orioles have clinched a playoff berth for the second time in the last eight years. The team will return to the postseason for the second straight year despite a host of injuries that devastated the pitching staff and impacted position players as well. Orioles starter Grayson Rodriquez couldn’t escape the rash of injuries. The second-year starter has been on the shelf since July 31 with lat/teres discomfort and ultimately ended up on the 15-day injured list.
While the Orioles were hoping to get Rodriguez back in the starting rotation, the the 24-year-old righty is being shut down and will not pitch again during the regular season or in the postseason, according to the Baltimore Banner’s Danielle Allentuck on X.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde clarified that the move wasn’t due to any setback in Rodriguez’s recovery. Rather, the pitcher simply wasn’t progressing quickly enough and ran out of time, per MLB.com’s Jake Rill. Baltimore will now focus on getting the young hurler ready for next season.
The Orioles are five games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East with five games left in the regular season. Baltimore has two games remaining against the Yankees before finishing the season with a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. Barring a miraculous finish, the Orioles will likely end up with the fourth seed as the top AL Wild Card team. Baltimore should face the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card Series next week.
Orioles’ starter Grayson Rodriguez is done for the year
With the exception of Corbin Burns, who’s been excellent for the Orioles this season going 15-8 with a 2.95 ERA, 1.109 WHIP, 8.2 K/9 and a 127 ERA+, Baltimore’s pitching staff has been a year-long problem.
Orioles starters John Means, Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish were all lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The team landed Zack Eflin in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline in an effort to bolster the rotation. However, Eflin hit the injured list as well with right shoulder inflammation.
Eflin was able to return to the rotation after sitting out two weeks. The nine-year veteran has pitched well for Baltimore when healthy, posting a 2.31 ERA, 1.046 WHIP, 8.2 K/9 and an ERA+ of 163 in eight starts with the Orioles. He’ll likely work as the team’s number two starter in the postseason.
Baltimore has also dealt with injuries to position players as first baseman Ryan Mountcastle missed more than a month of action with a left wrist sprain and All-Star infielder Jordan Wesburg recently returned after being sidelined for nearly two months with a broken hand.
While the Orioles are starting to get healthy just prior to the start of the playoffs, they’ll have to move forward without the services of Rodriguez, who the team selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft.
