Former Orioles closer Gregg Olson says the biggest issue Grayson Rodriguez has run into during his rookie season is finding answers when he falls behind in counts, but Olson was encouraged by the steps Rodriguez took in that regard during his most recent outing.
Rodriguez, 23, has had an up-and-down start to his big league career. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander has posted a 6.21 ERA through nine starts, but he has struck out 50 hitters in 42 innings so far. He has had two particularly rough outings. He allowed six runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings to the Royals in Kansas City on May 4 and gave up eight runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings to the Angels in Baltimore on May 15.
Rodriguez entered the season as one of the top pitching prospects in the game. In five minor league seasons, the right-hander recorded a 2.49 ERA and struck out 421 hitters in 296 innings. He was on track to make his major league debut last summer, but a lat injury delayed that until 2023.
Olson can relate to Rodriguez’s struggles at the big league level, having appeared in 622 games from 1988-2001. Olson points to Rodriguez’s habit of falling into predictable counts. Rodriguez has thrown a first-pitch strike to just 55.5 percent of hitters this year. The league leaders throw first-pitch strikes about 72 percent of the time.
“Sometimes you can run for a little while on stuff in the minor leagues — a little while — and you don’t learn how to pitch behind in the count,” Olson said on Glenn Clark Radio May 22. “That was my biggest issue. When I got behind in the count 2-0, I didn’t have anything else. I wish I would’ve kept my cut fastball from years ago but didn’t. And so I’m dancing with somebody either 1-0 or 2-0 and they’re getting a fastball. It’s time to dance.”
Rodriguez bounced back from his rough outing against the Angels with five innings of two-run ball against the Blue Jays on May 20. Olson, who was on the call in Toronto for MASN, noticed that Rodriguez made an adjustment in the way he attacked hitters behind in the count rather than leaning on the heater that has served him so well throughout his baseball life.
“When he gets 1-0, 2-0, he comes with a fastball thinking the 98 plays like it has played his whole life and he’s in the big leagues,” Olson said. “This past Saturday, he threw a lot more cut fastballs behind in the count, ended up paying the price with [George] Springer. Did it a couple times to Springer and then 2-0 on Springer, Springer’s like, ‘All right, I’ve seen that cut fastball. I’m going to sit on it now.’ And he got hammered.”
Fourteen of Rodriguez’s 91 pitches against the Blue Jays were cutters, or about 15.4 percent. That’s up from his season average of 11.5 percent. Rodriguez also has a changeup, slider and curveball he can use to get back into counts.
Rodriguez’s next start is expected to come on May 26 against the Texas Rangers, one of the top offensive clubs in baseball. That’ll be another big test for the right-hander.
“For the most part, I like the cut fastball behind in the count,” Olson said. “You’ve got to mix it up and move it around. You can’t do it every pitch, but that’s what I saw was the difference in his game. When he got behind, he could get back into counts with that cutter.”
For more from Olson, listen to the full interview here:
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