2019 #2 Prospect: Grayson Rodriguez - RHP

[Tony-OH]

How does a 19-year old four-pitch pitcher with a mid-90s fastball sound? 

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/05/grayson-rodriguez-rhp/

[Frobby]

I’m very excited about this young man.    I’m looking forward to seeing how he adjusts to high A.   If you look around, that was a tough jump for a number of our pitchers who were successful at Delmarva.    

[wildcard]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m very excited about this young man.    I’m looking forward to seeing how he adjusts to high A.   If you look around, that was a tough jump for a number of our pitchers who were successful at Delmarva.    

I think he moves to Bowie after the Carolina League All Star game in June.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I think he moves to Bowie after the Carolina League All Star game in June.

I hope he does well enough to justify that.    I’m trying to recall the last time a younger pitcher jumped from Frederick to Bowie in midseason, after spending the previous year at Delmarva.   Matt Riley did that in 1999, and I’m not sure anyone has done it since.     Bundy doesn’t count because he didn’t spend the prior year at Delmarva, but you can certainly say he was moved from Frederick to Bowie (and even the majors) at age 19 (later in the season than you are projecting for Rodriguez).

[Pickles]

Seen this coming a mile away.

And I agree.

 

[TGO]

Would honestly be surprised to see him in Bowie for more than 2-3 starts this year. He would need to completely blow away high A hitters to the point where it is hurting his development to keep him there. Of course, maybe that will happen, he has the talent. 

As Frobby said, the jump to AA mid year for a pitcher who isn't repeating high A has been pretty rare for the Orioles, and I don't get the sense Elias is aggressive with promotions (actually quite the opposite). 

[eddie83]

45 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I think he moves to Bowie after the Carolina League All Star game in June.

That would be a quick push. He is very young. They will slow play him right now. 

[Pickles]

Something worth noting, is the O's were real soft with Grayson and Adam in terms of innings pitched.  Both only threw about 80+.  Both are a few years even with ideal development away from being able to throw 150 innings in a major league rotation.  They will, obviously, both be brought along very slowly.

[wildcard]

I think I remember Elias saying he wanted to keep Rodriguez  at Delmarva all of last year but next year he could move faster.

[LookinUp]

Great profile. Pretty encouraging when you say he'd be one of the top pitchers in college if he went, not to mention the potential for 3-4 plus pitches. 

Aside from the typical developmental stuff for a young pitcher (command, refinement of secondaries), it seems like the one concern is about the delivery/holding his stuff. Keith Law rears his head again. Lol. 

By the way, that picture with his circle change grip is crazy to me. I know kids are learning it now instead of throwing curve balls earlier, but it is such a foreign way (in my mind) to grip and throw a baseball. I love that his change came through so much this year. It's a a game changer if it really sticks.

[Just Regular]

His offseason work last year with Josh Tomlin and his mindset (or at least quotes here) on the changeup are tantalizing.

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/04/showing-off-new-changeup-grayson-rodriguez-is-rolling-at-delmarva.html

Rodriguez and Tomlin are such odd bedfellows in terms of their God-given baseball talent, but it feels like a stroke of luck they lived in the same corner of the world last winter.  I doubt stereotypical big Texans like Josh Beckett or Kerry Wood ever thought about changeups like this as young men.  Not that even Rodriguez has their raw FB talent, but he has plenty if he can pair a good change with it.

Early next year, I'll be hoping the CH gains as his #2 weapon and he finds a winner between the curve or slider.  The October stories this year about how Strasburg really found himself ditching the fourth option and focusing on his three best pitches are another anecdote feeding my general belief that breaking balls are a bit like quarterbacks - if you've got two, you've got none.

[wildcard]

May 16, 2019

Elias on Rodriguez:

Quote

“We’ll see what happens. I’m not saying that will be the outcome, but it would certainly be a success for him to log a full season there,” Elias said. “Thinking back on some other high high school pitcher draft picks that I’ve been a part of, we kept Lance McCullers (taken No. 41 overall in 2012 by the Astros) in A-ball in the Midwest League all year in 2013. And then it was the following year we started to hop up the chain a bit.

Actually McCullar did not do well the following year in A+ ball.  So he stayed at that level all season.   But the next year he was at AA doing well and was promoted to the Astros.

I think this quote shows Elias willingness to promote Rodriguez if he pitches well at Frederick.

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/05/hes-pitching-great-but-os-in-no-hurry-to-move-grayson-rodriguez.html

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, wildcard said:

May 16, 2019

Elias on Rodriguez:

Actually McCullar did not do well the following year in A+ ball.  So he stay at that level all season.   But the next year he was at AA doing well and was promoted to the Astros.

I think this quote shows Elias willing to promote Rodriguez if he pitches well at Frederick.

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/05/hes-pitching-great-but-os-in-no-hurry-to-move-grayson-rodriguez.html

I’ll worry about it if and when he’s dominating at Frederick.   

[wildcard]

33 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’ll worry about it if and when he’s dominating at Frederick.   

Don't worry, be happy!

[Sanfran327]

Good writeup. Am I being unfair/impatient/short-sighted/stupid to be disappointed that our #2 overall prospect has a mid-rotation projection? Is he just too young to tell? I assume that a strong 2020 could change his outlook. And I'm not disappointed by Rodriguez, but if our #2 has a mid rotation projection, what does the rest of our top 10 look like?