East Texas Pitcher Gets Called Back Up to the Big Leagues

Good News and Bad News

I have some good news and bad news concerning Grayson Rodriguez.

First, the bad news - the professional pitcher who hails from Central Heights, Texas (near Nacogdoches) will be missing his next start for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.

The good news - the reason Rodriguez will miss his start is that he is being called back to the Majors to rejoin the Baltimore Orioles

A Month in the Minors

Grayson Rodriguez made his Major League Baseball debut on April 5 against the Texas Rangers. He would end up starting 10 games for the Orioles over the next month and a half. During his stint with the Orioles, he had good and bad outings.

Unfortunately, the bad outweighed the good and Rodriguez was sent back to Triple-A Norfolk to work at re-establishing his mechanics, confidence, and previous dominance. Grayson didn't let the demotion bring him down. In fact, quite the opposite.

He was named the International League’s Pitcher of the Month. In five June starts, Rodriguez went 4-0 with a 2.22 ERA (leading the league in that stat). In those games, he struck out 39 batters while walking 12.

Ironically, Grayson's only no-decision in June was his best outing. On July 4th, he struck out 12, gave up no runs, and didn't walk a batter in 6 innings of work.

With his recent domination at Norfolk, it seemed only a matter of time before Rodriguez would be called back up to Baltimore. The news of that move officially happened earlier today (July 16).

Rodriguez will be heading back to Camden Yards in Baltimore. He will be put to the test quickly as he has been named the starting pitcher Monday night when the Orioles host the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pushing to the Playoffs

Baltimore has a record of 57-35 and is making a strong bid to advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Orioles are competing in the strongest division in the Majors (American League East), and they are counting on the contributions of the East Texas rookie to advance to the playoffs and make a World Series run.