Grayson Rodriguez is becoming the pitcher the Orioles envisioned when they selected him with the 11th overall pick of the 2018 MLB Draft.
Rodriguez had a meteoric rise through the minors, eventually becoming the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball. However, Rodriguez had a rocky start to his major league career and was sent down to the minors on May 27 to work on his command.
Since being recalled to the Orioles on July 17, he is turning into an ace for the starting rotation.
“I feel more kind of like myself,” Rodriguez said after allowing one run in a career-high seven innings Aug. 14 against the Padres. “That first stint in the big leagues, I don’t like to say that was me.”
In 10 starts before being sent down to Triple-A Norfolk, Rodriguez was 2-2 with a 7.35 ERA, 56 strikeouts and 21 walks in 45.1 innings.
Since returning to the Orioles in mid-July, Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 3.03 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 21 walks in 35.2 innings. Opposing players are batting .195 against him.
“I just think the best thing for him was to work on the command of all his stuff down in Triple-A without worrying about results,” manager Brandon Hyde said after the game against San Diego. “And not just be able to out-stuff guys in the minor leagues, knowing that you probably can’t do that here, especially in a rotation situation. And he did that. Went down there and worked on command of all his pitches, and the command has been better since he’s been back.”
Overall, Rodriguez is 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA and a 1.407 WHIP in 16 starts. Rodriguez has also thrown a career-high 122.1 innings between the Orioles and Norfolk this season, but he appears to be getting better with each start.
Rodriguez could potentially play a key role in the postseason.
“I think wins [for a pitcher] are nice, but ultimately, it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “It doesn’t really depict how your season goes. Just glad we could get some runs and get my guys off the field so they could get in there and hit. It helps them out a lot when they’re not standing around out there.”
Flaherty Struggles
The Orioles were hoping Jack Flaherty would give the rotation a boost when they acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals just ahead of the trade deadline.
So far, the results have been mixed.
In his latest start, Flaherty allowed seven runs and four hits, including a grand slam to Gary Sanchez, in just three innings in a 10-3 loss to the Padres on Aug. 15.
“Just a bad night,” Flaherty said. “Just didn’t execute.”
Since joining the Orioles, Flaherty is 1-2 with a 7.07 ERA and 1.57 WHIP in three starts. He has struck out 19 batters and allowed eight walks.
Flaherty has had to make adjustments going from the National League to the American League. The Orioles hope he can provide quality innings during the stretch run.
Flaherty said he learns from his mistakes and is ready to bounce back in his next appearance, likely against the Toronto Blue Jays next week.
“I don’t believe in flush and forget,” he said. “I take it. And it doesn’t mean you have to reinvent everything. You just understand what happened and what went on, and make adjustments from there. But it’s not always about reinventing the wheel.”
Offensive Woes
The Orioles scored just nine runs across three nights in San Diego, where they dropped two of the three games.
While the pitching sputtered at times, the offense simply didn’t deliver in key moments.
“We did not score enough runs,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “That’s the bottom line. We’ve had a tough time scoring runs against starting pitching. You just can’t get four or five hits a game and expect to win.”
The Orioles are 16th in baseball in batting average (.250) and 19th in on-base percentage (.317). They are tied for 16th with the Blue Jays with 139 home runs.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle has been the team’s hottest hitter. He has 26 hits in his last 64 at-bats (.406) with four homers, four doubles and 13 RBIs. Overall, he is slashing .271/.315/.476 with 16 homers, 55 RBIs, 51 runs scored and three stolen bases in 90 games.
“It seems like I am seeing it pretty well and just trying to swing at pitches I know I can hit,” Mountcastle said. “Whether that be a strike or not, just get a ball I know I can barrel up.”
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