On April 16, Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez allowed four runs on six hits in five innings against the Chicago White Sox, with Lutherville native Gavin Sheets hitting a three-run homer in the first inning as part of the scoring.
On Aug. 28, Rodriguez tossed six scoreless innings against the White Sox at Camden Yards, retiring 18 of the 20 batters he faced. Sheets went hitless in two at-bats against Rodriguez. The difference in the two outings was clear to the Gilman graduate.
“What I saw [on Aug. 28] was a different guy than we saw in April and May,” Sheets said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 29. “Obviously, in my first at-bat he was up to 101 and just a lot of life. But to me, it was his changeup, the way it was working. He’s really coming into his own. He really threw the ball well.”
Indeed, Rodriguez has been a different guy of late. In the first 10 starts of his career, Rodriguez allowed 58 hits, 38 runs, 21 walks and 13 home runs in 45.1 innings. The Orioles sent him down to Triple-A Norfolk to work on his command after a rough outing against the Texas Rangers on May 26.
Since coming back to the major leagues after the All-Star break, Rodriguez has shaved his season ERA from 7.35 to 4.91. In nine starts, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander has allowed just 40 hits, 17 runs, 16 walks and three home runs in 53.2 innings. He has mostly ditched the cutter in his return to the majors, leaning on his four-seam fastball, changeup and slider.
Sheets told his father, Larry, how nasty Rodriguez was during the Aug. 28 game. Larry, a former Oriole and the current baseball coach at Gilman, had a front-row seat.
“I was on deck and talking about Rodriguez when he was sitting there in the front row,” Sheets said. “I was like, ‘Man, his fastball’s taking off tonight.'”
It’s been a struggle for Sheets to build off of the success he enjoyed in 2021 and 2022, as the 27-year-old is hitting just .211/.280/.351 with nine home runs in 268 plate appearances entering play on Sept. 4. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound first baseman and corner outfielder says it’s been a challenge to drive the ball as consistently as he wants, and some of that can likely be attributed to sporadic playing time.
However, it’s vital for Sheets to show in September that he can still be part of the long-term solution in Chicago. The White Sox are just two years removed from the playoffs, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf fired club president Kenny Williams and GM Rick Hahn in the midst of bitterly disappointing season and promoted Chris Getz to senior vice president and general manager.
Sheets can only focus on finishing the season strong.
“I think everybody’s kind of got that thought of, ‘What direction are we headed in and are we going to be a part of this?’ But at the end of the day, you can only control what you can control,” Sheets said. “That’s what I try to focus on. Obviously, in a season like this, everybody’s kind of scattered and looking different directions and thinking about themselves, so it’s definitely a weird time.”
This story was updated following Rodriguez’s Sept. 4 outing against the Los Angeles Angels.
For more from Sheets, listen to the full interview here:
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