4 Orioles players who have been major disappointments this season

Grayson Rodriguez hasn't yet looked like the starter the Orioles hoped he would be

Grayson Rodriguez has been considered to be one of the better young pitchers in all of baseball for a couple years now. The Orioles' first round pick from the 2018 draft put up gaudy strikeout numbers throughout his time in the minor leagues and once Rodriguez had recovered from a lat injury he suffered in 2022, many thought he would be dominating in the big leagues sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, that isn't exactly how things have gone down in 2023. The Orioles did call up Rodriguez early this season and he has been fairly...meh. In 17 starts this season, Rodriguez has posted a 5.38 ERA and 4.63 FIP with a noticeable dip in his strikeout rate from his minor league days. For a guy that was expected to be a headliner in this rookie class, those are not the numbers you are looking for.

In fairness to Grayson, he has been pretty unlucky when it comes to his HR/FB rate as well as his BABIP against him so far in the big leagues. He has also averaged less than two earned runs per start over his last six starts which is more than fine. While it would be nice to see some improvement in his ability to finish guys off, Rodriguez should be fine in the long-term even if this season has been a bit of a bummer.

2023 has not gone to plan for Austin Voth and the Orioles

Looking at the Baltimore bullpen, it is hard to find areas of weakness in 2023 other than the aforementioned Bautista injury. In addition to Felix being an absolute stud this season, Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe have been great as well with lots of contributions from elsewhere on the roster. However, one guy that has struggled to produce for a number of reasons in the relief corps has been Austin Voth.

In 23 appearances this season, Voth has posted a 4.94 ERA and 5.43 FIP thanks in large part to a BB/9 rate north of 4 and issues with the long ball. On top of that, Voth missed over two months of the 2023 season after experiencing discomfort in his throwing elbow. It is fairly telling that he hasn't pitched since being activated from the IL on 8/23, but if a guy like Voth is a team's worst reliever, then the team is still in a pretty good spot.