The Orioles sit in second place in the AL East, with pitching being a major ingredient to their success. However, there have still been some inconsistencies as the Orioles look for depth in the starting rotation.
One of the starters struggling to find his footing is Grayson Rodriguez. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander made his major league debut on April 5 against the Texas Rangers. Although the Orioles lost that game, Rodriguez performed well in his first career big league start. His success continued throughout the remainder of the month. He recorded a 4.07 ERA and allowed 11 runs, struck out 34 batters and walked 11 in 24.1 innings.
However, Rodriguez’s numbers plummeted in the month of May. In 21 innings, he posted an 11.14 ERA and gave up 27 runs on 35 hits. After giving up nine runs in 3.1 innings on May 26 against the same Rangers team he made his debut against, Rodriguez was sent back down to Triple-A Norfolk.
Former Orioles right-hander Steve Johnson understands the challenges that Rodriguez is facing. Johnson pitched in pro ball for 13 years, spending time in the major leagues with the Orioles and Mariners from 2013-2016. He often bounced back and forth between the majors and minors.
Johnson says not to panic about the 23-year-old Rodriguez.
“No matter which way you spin it, it’s his first couple starts in the big leagues. And some guys are able to just take off and they get to have success right away and they’re just able to run with it,” Johnson said on Glenn Clark Radio June 5. “And other guys they don’t have that success right away, but they grow and try and learn how, ‘OK, I can get away with that here, I can’t get away with that up in the big leagues.'”
Rodriguez’s major league struggles are an important step in developing as a pitcher, according to Johnson.
“It gives them some information on what they absolutely need to work on where they might not have had that fully or might’ve gotten away with it more in the minors or in certain situations,” Johnson said, adding the Orioles “probably have him working on things, possibly throwing his off-speed more for strikes, that type of thing, trying to give him certain keys to work on as he goes down there.”
Rodriguez was selected in the first round (11th overall) of the 2018 MLB Draft. He then pitched well at each step of the minor leagues before being called up from Norfolk in April.
Many have held onto the notion that the Orioles cannot develop pitching prospects despite a plethora of talent coming through the pipeline. The perception often negatively affects prospects, according to Johnson, as the organization and fans are quick to move on.
“There’s a lot of pressure on guys who are top picks and then get called up and they don’t have success right away,” Johnson said. “So then there’s pressure from the front office, there’s pressure internally, there’s pressure from the fans and then all of a sudden after not having success for a while, it’s almost like people expect failure out of you and out of those guys.”
Rodriguez has started two games since returning to the Tides. He pitched six scoreless innings on June 3, giving up just one hit. He then pitched six innings of three-run ball on June 9, striking out 10. With the Orioles looking for pitching help, Rodriguez is a prime candidate to return to their rotation at some point in the near future.
“I believe Grayson will probably be up fairly soon. I just think that they want him to go do a little reset, work on some stuff, obviously come back,” Johnson said.
For more from Johnson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox