Watch: O's Grayson Rodriguez overcome by emotion following MLB debut
Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez made his long-awaited Major League debut against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. Following his outing, the Lone Star State native shared an emotional moment with his family celebrating his journey to the bigs.
The last year or so has been challenging for Rodriguez. In 2022, the young hurler seemed on course for a potential September call-up, but a lat strain suffered last June ended his season prematurely. Then, the 23-year-old entered spring training fully healthy before being left off the Orioles' Opening Day roster -- only to get the call to the majors a little over a week later.
Nerves appeared to get to Rodriguez early in his debut, with Texas managing to plate two runs off the right-hander in the first inning, thanks to a double from Alodis Garcia and an RBI single by Josh Jung. After the first-inning excitement was out of the way, Rodriguez settled in, holding the Rangers to only two hits over the next four frames.
Rodriguez wrapped having allowed two earned runs off four hits, striking out five and walking only one in five innings of work. Unfortunately for Baltimore and Rodriguez, the Rangers came out on top, 5-2, dropping the Orioles to 3-3.
Selected 11th overall by the Orioles in the 2018 MLB Draft, Rodriguez made his professional debut that year in Rookie ball before quickly climbing up Baltimore's minor league ranks. MLB.com lists Rodriguez as the No. 6 prospect (out of 100).
Rodriguez will take the hill again for the Orioles against the Oakland Athletics next Tuesday.
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