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TAMPA – The chances of Grayson Rodriguez facing batters in 2025 just took another hit.
Rodriguez is shut down again for an indefinite period due to the same elbow soreness that kept him from pitching in spring training after a March 5 game against the Twins in Fort Myers.
The injury report lists Rodriguez with right elbow inflammation but he initially was sidelined with a strained lat that forced the cancellation of an April 17 bullpen session. Rodriguez spoke earlier of triceps tendinitis.
Rodriguez had advanced to throwing breaking balls in his bullpen sessions but clearly was behind other pitchers on the IL, including Kyle Bradish, who’s recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery last June and will log two innings Saturday against live hitters in Sarasota before beginning a rehab assignment.
“We had to pull back a little bit on Grayson,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “There’s a little bit of elbow discomfort from the issue he had in spring training, same spot, so we’re gonna kind of pull back, we’re gonna reevaluate and we’ll probably have more information on that in the next week or so.”
Mansolino didn’t want to speculate on the cause, such as Rodriguez changing his arm angle to lessen pressure on the lat.
“I think the fact that there was a preexisting thing that caused a little bit of inflammation, got a shot for it in spring training, I would probably gravitate more toward that causing it more than making any kind of mechanical change,” Mansolino said.
Rodriguez, the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft, hasn’t appeared in a major league game since July 31, 2024, with another lat/teres strain keeping him off the Wild Card roster. He could miss the entire 2025 season without undergoing surgery.
“It’s unfortunate,” Mansolino said. “Grayson’s a great competitor. He’s fierce and he’s tough, and this is really hard for him. It’s hard for his teammates, hard for the Orioles. Hopefully, we get better news in the next week or so and kind of see where he’s at.”
Asked about the possibility of Rodriguez being down for the remainder of the season, Mansolino replied, “I don’t know the medicals. I’m not a doctor. I think in a week or so, once we kind of go through the right channels, I think we’ll have a better idea. But that’s not for me to speculate on.”
Catcher Adley Rutschman (left oblique strain) is taking live batting practice today in Sarasota and probably will join Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (right hamstring strain) made the trip to Tampa, will take live batting practice Saturday in Sarasota and could begin his rehab assignment next week.
Left-hander Cade Povich (left hip inflammation) will report to Norfolk Saturday.
Tyler O’Neill isn’t in the lineup coming out of the All-Star break. Coby Mayo is playing first base, Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter and Ramón Laureano is in right field, which puts O’Neill in a reserve role.
O’Neill has been on the IL with neck inflammation and a left shoulder impingement, and he’s 3-for-22 this month.
“We talked about trying to put your guys in there O’Hearn’s one of our guys,” Mansolino said. “O coming off the All-Star break, I didn’t want to throw O out at first base today. Just kind of a short rest for him. We rode him hard, played a lot of outfield in the first half, so ideally I would have probably liked to sit O tonight, give him the rest, but he pretty much demanded to be in the lineup today. He wanted to play, which is who he is, so for me it was DHing him, and then from there trying to figure out the best thing to do with T.O.
“What I’m trying to do with T.O. is get him three, four, five days in a row, and I actually talked to him about it today. Just trying to get him four days in a row, try to get him moving in the right direction. The idea was to go likely Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday if all goes well for him. So that was kind of the thought today.”
Mayo has seven at-bats this month. He started twice in the last 11 games before the break but could be busier in the second half, especially if the Orioles begin to sell with the trade deadline approaching.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I think I’ve gotten some stretches where I’ve played a decent bit and then obviously the last two weeks before the break it wasn’t as much, but I’m very hopeful and I trust in the process of where I’m at right now. And Manso’s communicating really well with me, so yeah, we’ll see.”
Seeing his name in the lineup was a boost.
“It’s nice, hit the ground running right from the start,” he said.
The Orioles signed Coastal Carolina catcher Caden Bodine, the 30th overall pick in the draft, for the full-slot $3,113,300, per reports.
Bodine is a 21-year-old switch-hitter from New Jersey who batted .318/.454/.461 with 18 doubles, a triple, five home runs, 42 RBIs, 47 walks and 24 strikeouts in 67 games as a junior. In three seasons, he hit .337/.440/.528 with 55 doubles, two triples, 25 homers, 160 RBIs, 112 walks and 68 strikeouts.
Bodine threw out 39 percent of runners attempting to steal this year.
