Since Coming Back From AAA Grayson Rodriguez Has Been One Of The Best Pitchers In Baseball And Is Looking Like A True #1
Stud. Grayson Rodriguez is a stud. We all saw the struggles the rookie had earlier this year when he came up, lots of fastballs getting left right down the heart of the plate, high pitch counts, walking a ton of guys, not being able to find a great 2 strike pitch. Get sent down to AAA to work on some stuff and has been incredible ever since returning to the Orioles rotation, ace like stuff. Before the demotion to AAA Grayson didn't look confident, looked frustrated at times as well. That has all changed since he has come back and it's because his stuff is borderline NSFW and disgusting coming out of his hand.
Look at those splits. First 10 starts he was giving up homers like crazy, ERA was awful and guys were torching him, .307 opponent average. 58 hits in 45.1 innings, opponenets had a .374 OBP against him, it wasn't great. He ends up getting sent down for about 6 weeks to work on some stuff, and regroup. Since then he has been so damn good. Look at the numbers in his last 8 starts. Those are the numbers we thought we'd see when he was called up. 2.83 ERA, only 2 home runs surrendered in his last 8 starts, guys are hitting .199 off him and he's going 6 innings nearly every start. Hits are wayyyy down, 33 hits in 47.2 innings, a 2.83 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 41 Ks to 14 walks too, that is a HUGE part of the rebound. 67% of his pitches since coming back have been strikes as well. He's attacking hitters with his 100 MPH fastball, going right at them, attacking the zone with confidence, he's an entirely new pitcher and that is terrifying for opponents. 6 innings of 1 hit ball with 6 Ks for the big guy last night, safe to say he's settling back in quite nice and looks geared up for a playoff run.
Just look at the changeup for that first strikeout in the clip, that is insane. Disgusting. Revolting. Filthy. It's so damn good, I can't remember seeing a changeup move like that. When the change is on, teams are in trouble. And then of course the next K he comes right at Tim Anderson and almost makes him fall down after tossing high heat at him. He's comfortable, confident, knows his stuff is good and that is all he needed to find out. A nice little reset down in Norfolk has been amazing for Big Gray, we knew he had the ace stuff in him, it just had to be more consistent. Well he's plenty consistent now, looking like a starter for Game 1 of a playoff series if you ask me. Sky is the limit for Grayson, he has stepped up multiple times when the Orioles needed a good start. Baltimore, we've got an ace on our hands.
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