Rodriguez’s resurgence continues in Big A opener
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ANAHEIM — The Orioles have taken the league by storm with a profitable youth motion headed by a plethora of gifted gamers on either side of the ball. That identical recipe for fulfillment was entrance and middle but once more of their sequence opener in opposition to the Angels.
A standard theme within the second half of the season, the O’s have been led by Grayson Rodriguez, who has ascended to a brand new stage and began to faucet into the potential that made him a high pitching prospect. His six innings of two-run ball was the difference-maker of their 6-3 win on Monday night time.
• Games remaining: at LAA (2), at BOS (3), vs. STL (3), vs. TB (4), at HOU (3), at CLE (4), vs. WAS (2), vs. BOS (4)
• Standings replace: The Orioles (86-51) are 3 1/2 video games up within the American League East over the second-place Rays (83-55), who misplaced to the Red Sox. Baltimore presently has the very best report within the AL, which means it will not must play a Wild Card Series and would head to the AL Division Series because the No. 1 seed.
Rodriguez stymied an already-depleted Angels lineup that was with out Shohei Ohtani, who was scratched from the lineup with proper indirect tightness. As if Rodriguez, who has been considered one of baseball’s greatest pitchers within the second half, wanted any further assist.
Since returning to the Majors on July 17 after being demoted to the Minors in late May, Rodriguez’s 2.85 ERA and 1.04 WHIP are top-15 figures amongst MLB starters with at the very least 50 innings pitched. After not throwing a single high quality begin in his first 10 outings within the Majors, Rodriguez has reeled off 5 straight consecutive begins.
His begin in opposition to the Angels wasn’t excellent, nevertheless. After permitting a house run to Randal Grichuk within the fourth inning — Rodriguez’s second run allowed of the sport — his outing circled.
“I got a little mad,” Rodriguez mentioned. “It woke me up a little bit. I didn’t really feel like myself at first. After that, I sharpened some things up.”
After that time, Rodriguez tossed two scoreless innings, together with hanging out the aspect within the fifth. It was a continuation of this dominant stretch that Rodriguez has been on for the higher a part of six weeks.
The path thus far definitely wasn’t straightforward. MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 total prospect coming into the season, Rodriguez was considered one of baseball’s most touted younger pitchers. When the Texas native debuted in April, expectations have been sky excessive.
The begin to his profession was a stark reminder of the difficulties of transitioning to the Majors as a younger participant. In his first 10 large league begins, the 23-year-old had a 7.35 ERA in 45 1/3 innings — his ERA was the fifth-highest amongst pitchers with at the very least 40 innings by way of the tip of May. While he struck out a wholesome 26.5% of opposing hitters, he walked too many (10% stroll fee) and allowed too many homers (2.58 HR/9).
Following a nine-run outing on May 26 in opposition to the Rangers, Rodriguez was demoted to the Minors. Despite the elite stuff, Rodriguez was struggling to maintain runners off base and the baseball off the barrel of opposing hitters. After spending roughly six weeks again within the Minors, he’s emerged as a brand new pitcher since returning to the Majors on July 17.
The causes for Rodriguez’s newfound success have been plentiful. For starters, he’s a gifted pitcher who realized from his errors. From that studying expertise got here the mandatory changes — he tweaked his pitch combine, has seen extra success with the fastball and began throwing extra strikes. With that got here budding confidence that slowly grew after every profitable begin in what has been a exceptional second half.
Rodriguez 1st half vs. 2nd half numbers
Starts: 10 vs. 9
Quality begins: 0 vs. 6
Innings pitched: 45 1/3 vs. 53 2/3
ERA: 7.35 vs. 2.85
WHIP: 1.75 vs. 1.04
Strikeout fee: 26.5% vs. 23.2%
Walk fee: 10% vs. 7.7%
“It’s not even close,” Rodriguez mentioned about his confidence in his first MLB stint in comparison with his second. “It’s been a little more fun [in his second stint]. The first time I was up here, I wasn’t really having fun and I think it showed. Now, I can’t wait to get out there and get the ball.”
Rodriguez was simply considered one of many younger Orioles to shine on Monday night time, a well-recognized theme for his or her profitable methods in 2023. Up by a slim 3-2 lead within the seventh inning, Gunnar Henderson crushed a three-run dwelling run to all however put the sport out of attain. It was the twenty third dwelling run for the 22-year-old Henderson, who’s wanting just like the clear AL Rookie of the Year front-runner.
“It definitely just takes time getting used to it,” Henderson mentioned about making late-game contributions equivalent to his dwelling run on Monday. “I just really allowed myself to be smooth and go out there and not do too much in that situation.”
It was yet one more rookie in Jordan Westburg who offered a highlight-reel play within the closing inning to place the ending touches on the sport. With the outfield taking part in deep in opposition to the Angels’ Logan O’Hoppe, a 241-foot flyout to middle discipline ended up being caught by the second baseman Westburg. He needed to run a whopping 84 toes behind him to make a Willie Mays-style catch along with his again to the infield.
“I saw that Cedric [Mullins] was playing pretty far back, so I knew that it was my ball to go after,” Westburg mentioned of his spectacular catch. “I didn’t realize it was hit that deep into the outfield, but I just kept my eye on the ball and did whatever I could to catch it.”
Monday was additionally a particular night time for Orioles’ supervisor Brandon Hyde, who received his three hundredth recreation as a supervisor.
“It was a tough few years. A lot more fun these last two years,” Hyde mentioned about his milestone win. “These last two years have been a lot of fun turning the corner and being able to compete with the good Major League teams.”
Monday’s win not solely gave the Orioles the largest AL East lead they’ve had this season, it was additionally a record-setting win of types. They set an AL report with 84 consecutives sequence of two-plus video games of not being swept. That is a testomony to a group that has gotten thus far by constantly taking part in good baseball, day in and time out.
On Tuesday, they’ll look to proceed their profitable methods by turning to Dean Kremer, who has a 3.12 ERA in 52 innings within the second half.
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