Orioles’ Grayson Rodriguez Suffers Setback, Receives MRI For New Shoulder Injury
It’s more disappointing news for Baltimore Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who’s yet to make his 2025 season debut after beginning the year on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation.
Rodriguez was scheduled to throw another bullpen session at Camden Yards on Thursday, the third of his throwing progression since being placed on the IL. But those plans hit a snag after the 25-year-old reported soreness in his right shoulder, prompting the team to send him for an MRI.
The Orioles are still awaiting the results from that test, according to manager Brandon Hyde, which will determine how much additional time he’ll miss following this latest setback.
“We scratched the side a day or two ago. He went and got imaging this morning. He woke up a few days ago with a little bit of soreness in his shoulder area,” Hyde told reporters Thursday, including MLB.com’s Jake Rill. “The results have not come back on that yet.”
“We’re hoping for the best, but we felt like it was necessary to get some imaging done. I’m sure he’s frustrated.”
Injuries have been a major story in Rodriguez’s professional career since being taken 11th overall by Baltimore in 2018. He missed a large chunk of the ‘22 season with a right lat strain, delaying his major league debut until the following year.
Last season, the young righty endured two separate IL stints, the first due to right shoulder inflammation and the second because of right lat/teres discomfort, which ended his ‘24 campaign after only 116.2 innings across 20 starts with the Orioles.
Rodriguez completed his most recent bullpen session last Saturday, per Hyde, but it remains unclear when the club can expect to have him pitching off a mound again.
“So far, he is tolerating everything well physically, so that’s good news, but we still have a lot ahead of us in terms of bullpens, buildup, live BP, ultimately a rehab assignment, and I’m not ready to assign a timetable to his recovery yet,” general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday. “I know that he’s doing everything he can to strengthen up and get back to help the team as soon as possible, but we’re not at the point yet of ballparking when that’s going to be.”
Prior to his season-opening IL stint, Rodriguez made two starts for Baltimore during spring training, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out three over three innings. However, he came out of his second outing with soreness around his right triceps/elbow.
After undergoing a series of tests, Hyde later announced that the team’s projected No. 1 starter wouldn’t be available for Opening Day and would be sidelined indefinitely.
The Orioles’ starting pitching depth is currently running on fumes, with Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish (Tommy John surgery), Zach Eflin (right lat strain), Chayce McDermott (right lat strain), Tyler Wells (UCL surgery), Trevor Rogers (right knee subluxation), and occasional starter Albert Suárez (right subscapularis strain) all injured.
Those ailments have left the team with four healthy big-league starters, including Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich.
Baltimore has sorely missed Rodriguez’s production thus far, consisting of a 3.86 ERA, 3.66 FIP and 130 strikeouts last season, as the O’s starting staff enters Friday’s slate with the 29th-ranked ERA (5.09) in the majors.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: MarylandGovPics. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.