Orioles dependent on depth again while wishing Rodriguez a speedy recovery

SARASOTA, Fla. – There must be a voodoo curse in the Orioles déjà vu.

Their rotation was ravaged by injuries last season, and five starters at the major or minor league levels are headed for the IL – Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Trevor Rogers, Chayce McDermott and Grayson Rodriguez, who joined a club that’s about as exclusive as the local Publix.

Rodriguez is receiving multiple opinions to determine the cause of the discomfort in the back of his right elbow, the severity of it and how long he’s going to be out. He won’t be ready for Opening Day, which punches a hole in a rotation that lost ace Corbin Burnes to free agency.

“It’s a huge loss, but at the end of the day we need Grayson for pretty much the majority of the whole season,” said Zach Eflin, the uncontested starter on March 27 in Toronto. “If it’s something that happens, preferably it would be now and get it out of the way and come back stronger. It’s a blow, but fortunately for us we have depth and we have the next guy up mentality, so we’ll be prepared for any situation we encounter.”

“It’s tough I think whenever you have an injury,” said Cade Povich. “We saw it unfortunately too many times last year with guys going down. It’s tough. I see how hard he worked to get back last year. Got here early, I’ve seen how hard he’s worked to come back, so hopefully it’s nothing big. Hopefully it’s something short and he can get back quick.”

The Orioles have been here before. How many teams can claim to have three starters undergo ligament-reconstructive surgeries in the same season? In the same month?

Bradish, Wells and John Means are working toward second-half returns this summer, with the left-hander now employed by the Guardians. Dean Kremer missed six weeks with a strained triceps. Rodriguez was felled by shoulder inflammation and later a lat/teres strain.

The season was frayed but didn’t break apart. The Orioles won 91 games and earned the first Wild Card before the Royals swept them.

“Some say you want to get these, like, small things out of the way in spring training, knowing that as the season goes on you’re trying to make it to the playoffs,” Wells said. “I think if we can take care of these things right now and it sets us up for success later on in the year, then that’s the best thing for the club and for him.

“I don’t know many of the details on it, to be honest with you, but if it is little things where we take a week or two to figure out what’s going on or whatever the situation is, I think that just pays bigger dividends later on.”

The Orioles are known for preaching the wisdom of trusting the process. They’re also committed to trusting their depth and resiliency.

They may not have a choice.

“Yeah, exactly,” Wells said. “It’s kind of, we had the next man up mentality last year and I think that you still have that core group of guys here that kind of went through it all at the same time, to where I think we still maintain that mentality. We’re really big on just trying to make sure that we’re picking up each teammate. (Albert) Suárez did it for me last year big time, and we want to continue that mindset, and I almost want to say like tradition. You almost want to make it a tradition for the team and create that environment.”

“We’ve got a lot of guys who can come up and perform,” said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. “I’m interested seeing who that is and what it shapes up to look like. We have the talent to do so.”

Suárez and Povich are locked into a competition to fill in for Rodriguez. Suárez rebounded from two poor outings, holding the Twins to one run in 3 2/3 innings. He had allowed a combined seven runs and nine hits with four walks in his first 4 1/3 innings. Povich has followed his 2.60 September ERA by tossing five scoreless innings with one hit and seven strikeouts.

“You never want that to be the reason there’s an opening, but I think it definitely helps a little bit with the chances,” Povich said. “I think overall, though, it’s the same kind of mindset going that I’ve had all spring. I think even before, if I did my best to perform and show the improvements that I made last year and that I can still carry them over to this spring and this current season, that hopefully that gives me the best chance.”

Eflin doesn’t feel impacted by Rodriguez’s injury beyond concern for a friend and teammate.

“I go out every fifth day and treat them the same,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily affect, I don’t think, anybody in the rotation other than missing his presence and missing his stuff. But he’s gonna go out and get healthy and feel better and come back and be better for us.”

Wells could provide a shot of adrenaline to a pennant chase when he’s ready to pitch again. His elbow procedure involved an internal brace augmentation that can accelerate recovery time and get him back on the team ahead of Bradish.

“Everything’s going great,” he said. “I have no issues whatsoever right now. I really just want to maintain that, keep staying in shape, keep trying to get better. I have no complaints so far right now. Everything feels great.”

Timelines and timetables aren’t available because they don’t exist. Be content with sometime after the break.

“It’s such a day-to-day like thing, kind of just making sure that everything feels good,” Wells said.

“That’s the hardest part sometimes with these rehabs is that it’s easy for us as the players to really kind of jump to, we want to get back, we want to get back at this particular time and stuff like that, but unfortunately the reality of it is that our bodies dictate that, and if everything continues to progress the way that we’re progressing right now, hopefully it's sooner rather than later. So I’m just trying to maintain that day-to-day mentality, and that kind of helps the days go by a little bit smoother and a little bit shorter instead of those super-long ones like we had during the summertime.”

Sooner rather than later. The Orioles feel that way about every injured starter, of course. They just didn’t know when they arrived in Sarasota that it would apply to Rodriguez.

“Obviously, it sucks to hear that Grayson’s going through that, but hopefully we’ll pick up the pieces and it’s not a long-term thing,” Mountcastle said. “Wish him nothing but the best and hopefully he gets healthy soon.”