Baltimore Orioles: Will Grayson Rodriguez be out for the 2022 Season?

Just when a ball club looks to take some quantum leaps forward, destiny/fate/bad luck always seems to strike. Such is the case of Grayson Rodriguez, the top Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect, who looks to be out for the rest of 2022 season and may have to wait until 2023 to make his MLB appearance.

Yes, it’s too early to draw any major conclusions and team doctors like to err on the side of caution, but for the O’s front office and for fans alike, the wait and anticipation of Rodriguez getting the call up to the big leagues is now on an official hiatus.

This of course comes at a time when the Orioles were making some strides to get out of the AL East cellar in late May and now are 16 games back behind the division-leading New York Yankees. Folks, that’s a lot of ground to make up and it’s only the first week of June.

Grayson Rodriguez was having a stellar 2022 season and held an overall 2.09 ERA in 11 appearances for AAA Norfolk on 56.0 innings pitched, giving up 33 hits (only one homer) while giving up 14 walks and striking out 80 batters for a combined WHIP of 0.84. In the last six outings, Rodriguez was on fire throwing for a combined ERA of only 0.79 and 47 punch-outs.

However, Rodriguez was cruising in his June 1st assignment against Jacksonville, throwing 5 2/3 innings on 63 pitches and giving up only two hits to four strikeouts when he apparently began feeling discomfort in his right lateral muscle. Initially, the Baltimore Orioles organization decided to shut Rodriguez down for an undisclosed amount of time to see if overwork or throwing issues was at fault.

It’s now reported that Rodriguez has a Grade Two lateral strain which means his initial injury is far more serious than initially thought. As a medical precaution, Grayson Rodriguez’s pitching assignment in Norfolk is over for the rest of the summer.  What does this mean for the highly anticipated reunion between Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman?

In all reality, The Baltimore Orioles and their fans need to look towards 2023 to realistically see Grayson Rodriguez in Baltimore. Yes, he’s only 22 years old and can heal quickly but when a team is betting the farm on the throwing arm of a top prospect, it’s never an overstatement to be too cautious.