rewrite this title Orioles star pitcher to begin season on IL

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde provided media members with updates on various injured players Friday. Most notably, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will start the season on the injured list due to discomfort in his elbow/triceps area. However, Hyde emphasized that there was no concern about the righty’s ligament. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner was among those who relayed the info. Additionally, righty Andrew Kittredge will have arthroscopic knee surgery and miss multiple months, per Kostka.

Rodriguez had diminished velocity in his most recent start and later told reporters that he felt “sluggish” and “flat” during the outing. Hyde eventually revealed that Rodriguez was battling some soreness in his triceps. The club seems to be working on firming up the diagnosis but has enough info to determine that Rodriguez won’t be ready by Opening Day. “It’s not a ligament issue, so we’re not concerned about that,” Hyde said, per Kostka. “But it’s going to result in some missed time. … Right now, we’re still getting opinions.”

Time will tell about the long-term picture, but the O’s will have to make a rotation pivot in the short term. Without Rodriguez, four rotation spots will be taken by Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Dean Kremer. Hyde said Friday that the final rotation spot would likely come down to Albert Suárez or Cade Povich, per Kostka.

Suárez, 35, spent the 2019 to 2023 seasons pitching in Asia. He returned to affiliated ball with the O’s last year and had good results in a swing role. He made 24 starts and eight relief appearances, tossing 133 2/3 innings with a 3.70 earned run average. He only struck out 19.1% of batters faced but limited walks to a 7.6% clip. He is projected to be in a long relief role to start the year. If he jumps into the rotation, perhaps Roansy Contreras will take over as the long man since the O’s are stretching him out.

Povich, 25 in April, was a top 100 prospect going into 2024 but didn’t excel in his first taste of the majors. He made 16 starts last year with a 5.20 ERA, 19.6% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. But his minor league numbers were better, as he logged 77 2/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 3.48 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. He still has options and could be in the Triple-A rotation if not in the majors.

Ideally, one of those arms will cover the rotation spot for a few turns while Rodriguez gets healthy. Though if it’s eventually determined that he’s facing a longer absence, perhaps the club will look for external help. The free agent market still features Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Spencer Turnbull and others. Pitchers such as Jordan Montgomery and Taijuan Walker are likely available on the trade block.

As for Kittredge, it’s an unfortunate blow since the O’s made a notable investment in him less than two months ago. In mid-January, Baltimore signed Kittredge to a one-year, $10M deal, hoping to have him take up a key role in the club’s bullpen. But he recently experienced some soreness in his left knee and was sent for some testing, which revealed the need for this operation.

This isn’t the first time an injury has intervened in the righty’s career. Kittredge had a 1.88 ERA in 71 2/3 innings for the Rays in 2021 but then Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his next two seasons. He stayed healthy last year after being traded to the Cardinals and tossed 70 2/3 innings with a 2.80 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate. That spurred the O’s to give him an eight-figure deal but it now appears it will take several months for them to receive any kind of return on that investment.

Without Kittredge, the O’s still have many strong relief options, including Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Keegan Akin, Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto. If the Kittredge injury sends them looking for external options, guys like David Robertson, Phil Maton and Joe Kelly are unsigned.

As for shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who is dealing with an intercostal strain, Hyde said he is still getting treatment. Per Jake Rill of MLB.com, Hyde said Jackson Holliday will be getting some shortstop reps and possibly Jordan Westburg as well, with the O’s looking to build contingency plans for the event Henderson misses time. Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball adds that Liván Soto and Luis Vázquez are also possibilities.

Both Holliday and Westburg played lots of shortstop in the minors and should be relatively fine in moving over there to cover for a bit, though they would create holes elsewhere. Holliday projects as the regular second baseman and Westburg the third baseman. Coby Mayo or Ramón Urías could perhaps cover third if Westburg is at short, though it sounds like Hyde might have a slight preference for Holliday, which would create a hole at the keystone. Urías has lots of second base experience, but roughly a quarter of the time he’s spent at third.

As for Soto and Vázquez, neither is on the 40-man roster at present. They both have plenty of minor league experience at second, third and short but they have played just 46 major league games between the two of them.