Grayson Rodriguez has spent the past month making the Orioles wonder what they let walk out the door.
That wasn’t the vibe early on. Through his first 10 starts with the Los Angeles Angels this season, Rodriguez looked lost, posting a 7.98 ERA and 5.81 FIP.
At that point, Baltimore’s decision to move on from him last year looked pretty clean. But a start against the Orioles on Aug. 4 seems to have flipped something.
Jacob Calvin Meyer, the Baltimore Sun’s Orioles beat reporter, noted that Rodriguez has been rolling ever since that matchup with his former club, when he held Baltimore to three hits and two runs over seven innings. In the month of August, he has struck out 29 batters across 27 1/3 innings, trimmed nearly two full runs off his season ERA, and pushed his FIP down to 4.63. It’s the kind of surge that can make an ex look a lot better in hindsight.
The Angels haven’t exactly cashed in on it yet, going 1-4 in Rodriguez’s five August starts. Still, they may be playing the long game.
Rodriguez is under team control through 2030, and at 26 years old, he fits the profile of a low-risk, high-reward arm who could anchor a rotation for years. Los Angeles traded Taylor Ward, who wasn’t part of its long-term plans, to get him.
Baltimore’s side of the deal made sense at the time, too. The Orioles needed outfield help, and they were willing to move on from Rodriguez for a player they hoped would deliver 25-plus homers.
Ward never came close to that power level for the Orioles this season, though he was still a bright spot in the lineup before being dealt to the Mariners at the deadline. With Ward gone, the trade looks different now, especially for an Orioles team that could use an elite starter to keep pace in the AL East.
But Rodriguez’s path to this point has been defined as much by injuries as by promise. He missed all of the 2025 season after a string of injuries and surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. Even after the trade to the Angels, he started the year on the Injured List with shoulder inflammation, then landed back on the IL in June after just six starts because of lower back stiffness.
That has been the story of his pro career more than once. Taken 11th overall in the 2018 draft, Rodriguez arrived with huge expectations.
He flashed right away in the Gulf Coast League in 2018, throwing 19 1/3 innings and allowing only three earned runs. He kept climbing through the minors before making his Orioles debut in April 2023, where he again showed flashes of real brilliance.
His 2024 season pointed toward a bigger breakthrough, but an injury in August ended that run and he never threw another pitch for Baltimore.
So yes, it would have been a lot easier for the Orioles if Rodriguez had stayed healthy and turned into the ace they hoped he could be. Instead, they made a hard call and moved him last November in exchange for Ward.
That decision looked smart for a while. Now, with Rodriguez catching fire in Los Angeles, it suddenly feels a lot less comfortable.
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