The Baltimore Orioles will have their home opener this season on April 6 against the New York Yankees at Camden Yards.
Baltimore Baseball Tonight’s Ryan Ripken, who played in the minor leagues for seven years, says there’s something a little special about the home opener.
“There’s something about a home Opening Day and being around with your team, your family, your friends and being in that atmosphere,” Ripken said on Glenn Clark Radio March 30. “It really is like a holiday, and it should be electrifying at Camden Yards come [April 6].”
Orioles pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez did not start the season on the Orioles’ roster but was called up from Triple-A Norfolk April 5 to make his MLB debut against the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez, 23, was drafted 11th overall by the Orioles in 2018 and was dominant last year before sustaining a lat injury in the sixth inning of an outing for Norfolk on June 1.
This spring, he threw 15.1 innings in five starts and allowed 12 earned runs for an ERA of 7.04. Rodriguez struck out 19 batters and walked seven. Ripken pointed out that Rodriguez wasn’t at his best when he returned from injury late last year, either.
“He’s trying to rush back, he’s trying to get back, and the combination of rust and just trying to battle through the injury later in the season and pressing too much, he didn’t finish as strong, and this is the reality of it,” Ripken said. “The Orioles have a lot of arms in the rotation right now, and I felt like Grayson was going have to be flawless in spring training to break camp.”
Last season, the Orioles were able to stay in many games due to their terrific bullpen, according to Ripken. He mentioned how his two main concerns for the 2023 season are whether they can continue to have success within the bullpen and if the young players will continue to develop.
“The combination of those two [concerns] because if the young players develop, the Orioles are going to be great, but there’s a lot of young players that are in their first or second year. They are still trying to figure out how to be successful at the big league level. And then the big leagues are making adjustments constantly,” Ripken said.
Two players with high expectations this year are Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. Ripken believes in their talents and predicts that Rutschman could be a top-three American League MVP candidate this year and that Henderson could win AL Rookie of the Year.
Ripken said prior to the start of the season that those two “might not come out the gate hot” with other teams trying to exploit their weaknesses. But Ripken thinks they can be expected to be two of the better players in the AL.
“I do think that both of them are generational talents. But what I will say is I think Adley, of the two, coming from college, No. 1 overall pick, and he just has that type of stability. And he got a lot of games last year in the big leagues,” Ripken said. “Gunnar, even though he got his call-up, he’s still an extremely young player, and you’re trying to figure yourself out, and for those reasons for those guys, the expectations are through the roof.”
For more from Ripken, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credits: Colin Murphy/PressBox
Updated April 5, 2023 following Grayson Rodriguez’s promotion to Orioles’ roster.