Rodriguez's last 33 starts have been pretty solid

As the Orioles didn’t win as much in the final months of the season, the focus was often on the offense which was not performing at earlier levels.

But also, during those last two months and the in the postseason the team was without a key rotation pitcher (several of course) in right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.

Up until he got scratched for a start Aug. 6 at Toronto right before game time, he was having a pretty solid season. And I will post some stats later that make it look like he is trending toward becoming a top-of-rotation starter. Maybe Rodriguez will turn out to be that next ace the organization drafted, developed and produced.

His last start this season was July 31 and then he was out with right lat/teres discomfort, a similar injury that cost him three months on the farm during 2022. The O’s were hopeful he would get back late in the year, but he didn’t make it. He is expected to be a 100 percent full go to start 2025.

Rodriguez went 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA over 20 starts in 2024. In 116 2/3 innings he posted a 1.243 WHIP with a 2.8 walks per nine and 10.0 strikeouts.

Rodriguez, who turns 25 on Nov. 16, recorded 11 quality starts and the Orioles went 14-6 in his outings. With 13 wins, he finished tied for 12^th in the American League and two off the team lead of Corbin Burnes. With 15 wins, Burnes tied for fifth in the AL.

Here are a few other areas that some consider quite important where Rodriguez trended up from 2023 to 2024:

* He lowered his pitches per inning from 17.2 to 16.1.

* His whiff rate increased from 26.3 to 30.00, which was in the top 17 percent of MLB.

* His K percentage grew from 25.0 to 26.5 which was in the top 25 percent.

At a time when many pitchers are striking out fewer batters and the Ks per nine in the majors dropped a tick from 2023 to 2024 from 8.7 to 8.6, Rodriguez was striking out more. His Ks per nine increased year-over-year from 9.5 to 10.0.

Fans may recall that Rodriguez was optioned back to the minors in late May of 2023 with a 7.35 ERA. Since he returned to the Orioles that season on July 17, he has been a different and much better pitcher.

In fact, he has made 33 starts throwing 193 1/3 innings in that span. No doubt the Orioles can foresee a healthy Rodriguez posting similar durability numbers over a full season, maybe over many full seasons.

In those 33 games, he has gone 18-6 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. He has 18 quality starts allowing a .237 batting average and .664 OPS. His groundball rate is 45.7 and that helped him keep the ball in the park allowing 0.84 homers per nine since that July 2023 date.

A pitcher posting those numbers over a full year is probably going to get Cy Young votes and be considered a workhorse and a top of rotation guy.

The Orioles missed that the last two months of last season. But for his past 33 starts, Rodriguez has been pitching like the guy they hoped he could be when they selected him No. 11 overall in the 2018 MLB Draft.