Orioles GM Mike Elias is speaking to reporters (including MASN’s Roch Kubatko) in the aftermath of the trade deadline this morning and relayed that the club is still determining a treatment plan for talented right-hander Grayson Rodriguez after he was sidelined by renewed soreness in his elbow in mid-July. While Elias made clear that a reconstructive surgery on Rodriguez’s UCL has been ruled out at this point, he acknowledged the possibility that Rodriguez may need a debridement surgery to remove excess bone from his right elbow. Such a procedure would mean that Rodriguez will not pitch in 2025, but he would be positioned to return in time for the start of the 2026 season. No decisions have been made about that at this point, but Elias suggested that the surgery could happen within the next few days if that’s the direction Rodriguez and the Orioles opt to take.
Rodriguez, 25, has not pitched this season. After being diagnosed with elbow inflammation during Spring Training, he began ramping up in April but was sidelined by a lat strain. He was shut down for weeks due to the lat issue, and when he began working his way back from that the renewed elbow issues once again forced him to sit back down. Now, it appears as though his 2025 season as a whole is in danger. That won’t matter for the Orioles in the short-term, as the club’s 50-59 record leaves them buried in both the AL East and the AL’s Wild Card standings. Even so, it’s a tough setback for a talented hurler who was once the consensus top pitching prospect in the sport.
Rodriguez has made 43 starts in the majors since he debuted in 2023, but no more than 23 starts in a single season. He’s pitched to a roughly league average 4.11 ERA (97 ERA+) in that time, with a 3.80 FIP and a 25.7% strikeout rate. While those results aren’t exactly impressive on paper, Rodriguez has had stretches of dominance including a 2.26 ERA and 2.75 FIP over his final 12 starts of the 2023 campaign. There’s clearly top-of-the-rotation upside baked into Rodriguez’s profile, but in order to develop that potential he’ll need to be healthy enough to get reps in. That makes the possibility of losing the entire 2025 season a frustrating one, but it sounds as though his 2026 campaign is not in danger. Given that the Orioles still hope to compete in the short-term, an injury-marred 2026 season is the most important thing to avoid.
Looking ahead to next year, Rodriguez figures to rejoin the rotation alongside a number of other injured Orioles arms. Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, and Cade Povich are all currently on the injured list but could theoretically contribute at some point this year and certainly figure to be healthy and ready to go for next season. Lefty Trevor Rogers and right-hander Dean Kremer, both currently healthy and in the rotation, are also under control for next year. That group of arms figures to be a big step up over the production veterans on expiring deals like Tomoyuki Sugano, Zach Eflin, and Charlie Morton have offered this season, though the Orioles will still surely need to supplement that group with external talent given the long layoffs virtually every starter in the 2026 rotation will be working their way back from.
Hey, finally some “good” news for the Orioles!
Good news that Grayson will be ready for 2026? Or am I being dumb and not detecting sarcasm lol
A little bit of both honestly ;-)
Anything that’s not T*mmy J*hn is good news at this point. 2025 doesn’t matter anymore
Why wait? Just get it done and hope it ends his injury problems.
Exactly! Teams always screw around, try to rehab and next thing you know Tommy John.
It could be the player who is reluctant to get surgery. Some guys may believe if they rehab, they’ll get better.
“Teams always screw around”…Exactly. I’m sure the people down here in the MLBTRADERUMORS.COM comments section know more about treating injured players than the doctors, trainers, rehab specialists and therapists that do it professionally.
Actually having access to the necessary medical records, patient interviews, imaging/MRI/Xray reports is completely and highly overrated, right?
Tommy John surgery it is then.
Not guaranteed you will be same or better with surgery… always risk.
Maybe he will be back in a few yrs like Mcullers. Last yr Baltimore was way over their heads. But they still have pretty good core young talent. Westberg, Jackson Holliday, Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Cowser, Mayo. That team canmake adjustments and compete. There are few teams with that many young players who are either good or have potential to get better.
I’m not so sure about Mayo. Holliday has turned it around. Not a superstar by any means, but he seems to be turning into a decent hitter.
Holliday is 21 years old. He will be a superstar.
A repeat from 101 win season to win 90 is over their heads? If Bradish didn’t need TJ the would have easily won the division. The won the head to head vs NY as it was…
Keep duct taping the problem.
So about January 20th we should expect to hear that as Rodriguez starts throwing in offseason workouts that he has soreness somewhere and is shut down again.
The Orioles are fooling themselves if they have ANY expectations of Rodriguez being a long-term starter again. Or Wells, who couldn’t ever get past 110 IP in 2023 before the injuries. Already made this mistake 2 years in a row, don’t make it 3, go get 2-3 other more reliable #1/#2 starters.
The O’s have to rebuild their bullpen and add at least 2 starters this winter and hope the results are better than 2025
I hope that Grayson figures out the problem and can heathy. Seems like a great guy.
They have to keep not trading their young hitters for quality mlb starters
And just hope those garbage free agents and their injury prone starters can lead them into the playoffs.
Anybody able to explain what it means to have “excess bone” and if that’s a problem someone has throughout their life or as a result of something else?
It’s basically excess bone growth on the elbow due to wear and tear on the cartilage. Typically pitchers get it so they go in to shave it down. Pretty simple procedure.
Appreciate the response YBC! Wish I could say I understood how wear and tear on the cartilage causes the bone to grow excessively, but I might just be out of my depth on this subject.
Pitching, and more specifically throwing certain pitches, is not a natural movement for the arm. I imagine it’s much like combat fighters training their shins to build up the layers of tissue in that continued throwing causes a similar effect, but it isn’t the desired result for a pitcher, so the excess growth due to the repeated stress and movement needs to be addressed in certain cases because it causes discomfort or inability to perform at the required level. Just a guess, I could be completely off here though!
One possible explanation would be bone spur.
A bone spur is easily seen on an X-ray. Our kneecap (patella) is an example of the body making bone when certain cartilage gets irritated from rubbing. Bone spurs occur in similar manner. It could also happen as tendons pull on the bone during repetitive movements.
Wells should be in pen and pitch the 8th. He shined as a closer and has shown some durability issues as a starter. Can’t count on Grayson but he could surprise to the upside. Also forgetting about Suarez. Then sign a couple of veterans – like Morton – for depth.
He could be closer if batista is out again…
For the love of g-d, just operate already. And sign some quality pitchers in offseason
He needs to get a divorce from that excess bone.
“Looking ahead to next year, Rodriguez figures to rejoin the rotation alongside a number of other injured Orioles arms. Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, and Cade Povich are all currently on the injured list but could theoretically contribute at some point this year and certainly figure to be healthy and ready to go for next season. Lefty Trevor Rogers and right-hander Dean Kremer, both currently healthy and in the rotation, are also under control for next year. That group of arms figures to be a big step up over the production veterans on expiring deals like Tomoyuki Sugano, Zach Eflin, and Charlie Morton have offered this season”
And why on Earth would you assume that 4/5 of your rotation coming back from serious arm injuries would give you a step up in performance from what you had this season? You don’t even know if any of them can make it through a full season. It is much more realistic to assume that they won’t. If the Orioles think their rotation is set with what they’ve got in house and only need another bottom of the barrel signing to solidfy the rotation, they’ll be sellers again next year. If they are serious about contending again and making a run with the current window they have, they better get some serious top of the rotation arms and then let the other slots be filled by whoever can actually get on the mound.
Every time I see the word “debridement” I think of King Henry VIII, or perhaps a current analogue.
“That elbow hasn’t produced a male heir yet, chop it off so I will own all the Church’s property”
Debridement, as humiliating as deflowering in the tower?
I am fairly certain the Elias strategy will now be flipping several prospects this winter for controllable starting pitching. I was happy to see that Alcantra, Cabrera, keller, McGore, and Joe Ryan were not moved yesterday. With the boat load of prospects we acquired yesterday, in addition to those we already have, particularly after this year’s draft, the O’s should be able to put together a package to get one of those five. Sign Framber Valdez as a free agent and the rotation is extremely competitive!
And yes, I realize we can’t trade 2025 draft picks, but the haul we got certainly increased our depth!
It is August. He has been injured since spring. What took them so long?
The Orioles should cut ties with this guy asap. He has a lot of potential but will always have some kind of injury.