Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles’ prime pitching prospect, has been identified with a lat muscle pressure, govt vice chairman and basic supervisor Mike Elias introduced Thursday after Rodriguez underwent an MRI in Baltimore.
The actual severity of the pressure has not but been decided, nor has any timeline for Rodriguez’s restoration. The solely certainty at this stage is that Rodriguez will miss time, a serious hindrance because the 22-year-old geared towards an impending promotion to the key leagues.
“Safe to say he’ll miss some time, and probably a decent amount of time at a minimum,” Elias mentioned. “Certainly a very disappointing development in terms of the 2022 calendar and our hopes and his, but it’s something that we’ll ultimately get through.”
Rodriguez left his begin Wednesday night time for Triple-A Norfolk after 5 2/3 innings with what the right-hander initially mentioned felt like a again cramp, an trade supply with direct information of the scenario informed The Baltimore Sun. An extra supply mentioned Rodriguez felt he was dehydrated.
The Orioles introduced after the sport that Rodriguez skilled “right lat discomfort,” and the workforce flew Rodriguez to Baltimore on Thursday morning for added testing. The MRI revealed the lat pressure, though a supply near Rodriguez mentioned docs informed him “it’s not as serious as it looks.”
The typical timeframe for pitchers to get better from a lat muscle pressure is a month. Elias wasn’t ready to estimate a timeframe from Rodriguez, who will possible meet with different docs over the following few days to obtain extra opinions.
Whether it guidelines Rodriguez out for the 2022 season stays to be seen. Elias mentioned a visit to the workforce’s spring coaching advanced in Sarasota, Florida, for rehab is probably going.
“It’s not something that I think at this time looks particularly worrisome from a long-term standpoint,” Elias mentioned. “We’ve had guys pull muscles all the time. But it’s an unfortunate timing development for both him and the Orioles.”
Rodriguez cruised by the primary 5 2/3 innings for the Tides, however he threw what seemed to be a fastball that registered on the stadium radar gun at 89 mph, a big drop from his ordinary velocity. Rodriguez’s fastball usually hovers within the mid-90s and may leap to 97 mph.
The pitch drew a mound go to from a coach, pitching coach Justin Ramsey and supervisor Buck Britton. After a prolonged dialogue, Rodriguez was faraway from the sport. He had allowed two hits and no runs with 4 strikeouts to that time, persevering with an outstanding stretch of video games.
“A 22-year-old at the front end of his career I think kind of puts any kind of calculus toward the longest-term considerations rather than rushing him back,” Elias mentioned concerning a return to the mound.
Rodriguez, ranked the No. 3 general prospect within the sport by Baseball America, earned the International League Pitcher of the Week award Monday for his standout begin final week, when he struck out 10 batters and gave up two hits throughout seven scoreless innings, throwing a season-high 88 pitches.
A significant league debut for Rodriguez seemed to be on the horizon earlier than Wednesday’s exit. He had spent the earlier month at an 85-pitch restrict, however that restrict was raised to 95 pitches earlier than his begin final week. He didn’t attain it due to how environment friendly his outing was, but it surely was one other signal that his buildup was going easily.
Rodriguez was anticipated to succeed in 100 pitches within the minor leagues earlier than receiving a promotion. He completed at 63 on Wednesday earlier than the harm. Elias has preached the necessity for a sluggish method, saying earlier this yr that the Orioles want “to be super careful with the workload for this kid, just because of who he is.”
A possible call-up to the Orioles might’ve occurred as early as subsequent week. Instead, Rodriguez might want to construct himself again up, delaying his debut within the majors.
“The timing of this stinks,” Elias mentioned. “We were watching every start of his very carefully and carefully building him toward readiness, from a workload standpoint to an everything-you-can-think-of standpoint to what’s going to be a very long and fruitful pitching career. Obviously, this is going to be a delay.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com