ARLINGTON, Texas — Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore’s top-ranked pitching prospect, will make his major league debut Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, the team announced.
Rodriguez, who didn’t make the team out of spring training, will start in the series finale in his home state, which starts today at 2:05 p.m. EST. He will wear No. 30. Orioles pitcher Kyle Bradish is headed to the 15-day injured list with a right foot contusion, which he suffered after he was hit by a line drive on Monday night.
The move, which was reported by The Banner on Tuesday night, sets up a long-awaited debut for Rodriguez. The 23-year-old was selected in the first round of the 2018 draft, and there were high expectations for him to make the opening day roster out of spring training. However, Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after he pitched to a 7.04 ERA in 15 1/3 spring training innings. Most of his runs came in isolated innings that would unravel on him; he allowed 11 runs in his final 10 2/3 innings of the spring.
“He just didn’t really have a good start this spring, and kind of didn’t get out of the fourth inning,” Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said as spring training ended. “It seemed like the second time through the order, that third inning, was an issue. I thought he didn’t establish his slider as well as we’ve seen him do in the past. Command wasn’t as good as we’ve seen him do in the past.”
In his first start for the Tides on Friday, he allowed two earned runs in four innings. He’ll be on regular rest to start Wednesday.
The Orioles are filling a hole in their rotation after Bradish suffered a right foot contusion in the second inning Monday night. A 104-mph line drive struck him, and after one warmup pitch, Bradish exited the game. X-rays for a fracture were negative.
Tuesday’s projected starter, right-hander Tyler Wells, entered and pitched five no-hit innings, leaving Baltimore searching for starters for the rest of the series. Right-hander Kyle Gibson moved from Wednesday to pitch Tuesday.
