(Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
The Baltimore Orioles are already one of the top-five teams in MLB.
They have gone this far, even owning the best record in the American League, with their prized prospect Grayson Rodriguez sporting a 5.44 ERA.
The Orioles even sent him down at one point, but he returned and has made six starts since then.
After dominating the San Diego Padres on Monday, we can all go ahead and say it: he has officially arrived.
Grayson Rodriguez blossoming into a stud would make the Orioles even scarier pic.twitter.com/TiHqmyPv9s
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 15, 2023
Rodriguez conceded just one run in seven innings, with six strikeouts.
He looked off when he had a spot in the rotation earlier this year, but since returning, he has a pristine 3.03 ERA in 35.2 innings.
That comes with a 0.98 WHIP and 30 strikeouts, too, so he has really hit his stride just in time to give the O’s a real ace as they head to their first postseason since 2016.
Many people criticized the Orioles for not bringing in a true ace at the deadline, but in Kyle Bradish (3.18 ERA), Jack Flaherty (3.27 ERA since coming over from the St. Louis Cardinals), Rodriguez, and the pending return of John Means, not to mention the improving Dean Kremer and the steady Kyle Gibson, they have a solid group.
The truth is that, when it comes to pure ceiling, Rodriguez’s is as high as anybody’s in the league, and the version he has shown in his last six starts is as close to his best-case scenario as it gets.
The Orioles may have been lousy for years, but they are elite now and things are only getting better.
The post The Orioles Got An Elite Outing From A Potential Ace appeared first on The Cold Wire.