Grayson Rodriguez’s major league tour moved the organization’s top pitching prospect from his home state to his home ballpark.
What are the attachments to Chicago, where he’s pitching over the weekend?
Tonight provided another slice of the dream. Standing on the mound at Camden Yards, five years after the Orioles drafted him in the first round. The white uniform. His parents nervous spectators within a more supportive crowd that wore orange T-shirts with “Welcome to the Show” across the back.
Rodriguez jogged out of the dugout with his teammates, began to warm up and heard the applause. He missed with fastballs clocked at 97.6 and 98 mph, ran the count full and issued his first home walk.
There are always firsts.