Grayson Rodriguez 2024

[Jim'sKid26]

4 hours ago, Say O! said:

To me, this is where Grayson’s lack of command shows up (command vs control).  He is not yet precise with his locations — and that manifests when he either gets too much of the plate when ahead in the count or misses too far off the plate with 2 strikes.  There were several examples in the game last night where GRod gave up hits to Singleton, Dubon, Bregman when ahead in the count with two strikes.  He doesn’t (yet) paint the black with regularity on his fastball or breaking ball like a Corbin Burnes for instance.  To illustrate this point further, Corbin Burnes allows OPS against .250-.300 with 2 strikes whereas GRod is more ~.400 OPS against.  While that’s still pretty darn dominant, it’s a step below where guys like aforementioned Burnes or other power pitchers like Wheeler after whom GRod has said that he models his game.  From watching the games, it does seem that when GRod allows hard contact with 2 strikes, it is often because he has missed location wise rather than hitters putting a good swing on good pitch.  He’s only 23 years old so if/when GRod improves command-wise, that’s when he takes next step and becomes CY level. 

If you put any stock in BBRef comps his age 23 comp is AJ Burnett. I think the inconsistency in Grayson's performance may make this a somewhat valid comp. Now IIRC Burnett had a few injuries that made his inconsistent performance understandable but age 24 Burnett was 11-12 with a 4.05 ERA for Miami. ERA + was 105. That was a 76-86 team that ended up 4th in the NL East. Age 25 Burnett was 12-9 with a 3.30 ERA and 203 Ks and an ERA+ of 122. He threw 204.1 IP and had 7 CG and 5 SHO. That team was also rather bad at 79-83 and 4th in AL East. 

If Grayson can figure out the consistency aspect of pitching in the MLB, he's got the stuff to be a top tier SP. If not he's a valuable mid rotation arm that flashes great potential, IMHO. Most guys don't figure it out. The few that do are household names and multimillionaires. 

[dystopia]

Good outing for G-Rod, no walks is the big plus today.

[Moose Milligan]

Didn't walk anyone, also didn't have a high K-rate either but started striking out guys as he got to the finish line.  

Would take that result every time, though.  Glad to see him go 7. 

[Malike]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Didn't walk anyone, also didn't have a high K-rate either but started striking out guys as he got to the finish line.  

Would take that result every time, though.  Glad to see him go 7. 

Agreed. The solo shots rarely kill you, though, he said the pitch Noel hit was a "tip your hat", looked pretty damn fat to me lol.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Malike said:

Agreed. The solo shots rarely kill you, though, he said the pitch Noel hit was a "tip your hat", looked pretty damn fat to me lol.

Yeah, that one was grooved.

It's hard to argue with 7 innings of 2 run ball but I felt like it was a struggle for him at times tonight, too.  Rob Long said this was his best start of the year...off the top of my head, I'm trying to remember others but I don't know if I can agree with that statement.  Yeah, again, 7 innings, two earned...but only 4 strikeouts.

[Malike]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yeah, that one was grooved.

It's hard to argue with 7 innings of 2 run ball but I felt like it was a struggle for him at times tonight, too.  Rob Long said this was his best start of the year...off the top of my head, I'm trying to remember others but I don't know if I can agree with that statement.  Yeah, again, 7 innings, two earned...but only 4 strikeouts.

Yeah I'm certain it wasn't his best start of the year. Cleveland puts the ball in play, he did a good job of getting fast outs, made a couple of mistakes and had some balls smoked right at people. If he can do that every start I'll take it though.

Edited Thursday at 02:24 by Malike

[Sports Guy]

I made a comment in the game thread that he needs to throw his change up more.

Later on in the broadcast, they should some of the elite numbers he has with his change up and showed that his usage of that pitch is 9th in the majors…and I still don’t that’s high enough. 
 

GRod has too many balls hit hard off of him. He needs to fix that but his development is coming along nicely.

I said it in the game thread but I think he is the single most important player on the team the rest of the year.

[ChipTait]

40 minutes ago, Malike said:

Agreed. The solo shots rarely kill you, though, he said the pitch Noel hit was a "tip your hat", looked pretty damn fat to me lol.

High in the zone, but yes, in the zone.  I wouldn't say "fat," though...

https://www.mlb.com/video/jhonkensy-noel-homers-1-on-a-fly-ball-to-center-field?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share