Orioles starter officially shut down for the year with troubling lat injury

While the Orioles are busy getting a number of impact hitters back from the IL, including 2024 All Star Jordan Westburg and utilityman Ramon Urias, the rotation has been dealt another brutal blow. On Wednesday night, Brandon Hyde told reporters that the Orioles have officially shut Grayson Rodriguez down for the rest of the year. "We just felt for his health, for his future, that it was the right thing to do" Hyde said.

Rodriguez went on the IL back on August 7th after feeling some discomfort while warming up prior to a scheduled start against the Blue Jays. There was initially some hope that Rodriguez would return prior to the end of the regular season, and Rodriguez himself told reporters that this version of the lat injury he sustained wasn't as severe as the one that kept him out for 3+ months back in 2022.

However, as it turns out this lat injury is likely just as bad as the one he suffered two years ago. Having already missed almost two months and not progressing as quickly as the organization had hoped, the Orioles have decided that rushing Rodriguez back would be too detrimental to his long term health.

Orioles lose Grayson Rodriguez for the season thanks to lat injury

It's another tough loss for the Orioles who have now lost four of the five starting pitchers in the projected Opening Day rotation. The trio of Tyler Wells, Kyle Bradish, and John Means were all lost earlier this season to Tommy John surgery and the Orioles have been flying by the seat of their pants trying to make due without them.

While the Orioles have been able to make it through August and September without Rodriguez, the rotation isn't running anywhere near 100%. The O's do have a pair of strong starters atop the rotation in Corbin Burnes and Zach Eflin, but Albert Suarez and Dean Kremer behind them are more volatile pitchers and will be tough to rely on in a postseason series.

As mentioned by Hyde, Rodriguez will now focus on getting back to full health and returning strong in 2025. All told, the righty threw 116.2 innings with a 13-4 record and a 3.86 ERA this year. His 130 strikeouts are a new career high, though he'll aim to blow past that number next year.

Through two seasons, Rodriguez has now pitched just 238.2 total innings. We haven't seen the volume you'd expect from a front-line starter but next year should hopefully be a clean slate. With any luck, Rodriguez can hit the reset button and come back ready to go in spring training.

With so many question marks in the rotation going into 2025, Rodriguez will be an important part of the Orioles puzzle. Getting him healthy is important, even if it's disappointing to hear that he won't be returning this year.