A healthy Grayson Rodriguez has plenty to prove in 2025..

After his 2024 season ended prematurely, Rodriguez returns to the Orioles trying to prove he can stay healthy and thrive at the top of the rotation.

Zach Eflin may come into spring training as the presumptive ace of the Orioles, but it’s Grayson Rodriguez who will be the biggest difference maker in determining just how good this staff will be.

The flame-throwing Texan can best be described as up and down through his first two major league seasons. His rookie season was marked by a horrid first crack at the majors before an impressive return to the majors after the All-Star break. In 2024, G-Rod had plenty of starts where he looked like a future star, but ultimately the season was marred by two upper-body injuries, the second of which ended his season in early August.

Heading into the 2025 season, the Orioles and fans have different expectations when it comes to Rodriguez. After the O’s saw ace Corbin Burnes leave for the Diamondbacks—and only replacie hdim with veterans Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano—Rodriguez now must assume the role of No. 2 starter behind Eflin.

The two biggest areas of improvement for the Orioles flamethrower are establishing his breaking ball and limiting the home run ball. Coming up through the minors, Rodriguez’s best secondary offering was his plus changeup. We saw that put into action when G-Rod’s changeup finished second to Michael Lorenzen in Run Value/100 pitches.

That development came at the expense of his slider in particular, with opponents hitting .250 and slugging .563 on the pitch. As his go-to out pitch against right-handed hitters, Rodriguez needs to find more success with his slider to limit the damage done by RHB. Righties hit .280 off G-Rod last year (compared to .205 by lefties) and had an OPS nearly 200 points higher.

Home runs also continued to be a big problem for the former first-round pick in 2024. Through 238.2 career innings, Rodriguez has allowed 31 HRs—an average of 1.17 HR per 9 innings. It’s not a horrible number by any stretch (the major league average was 1.14 in 2024), but it’s a number everyone in Birdland would like to see come down. The Orioles were 8-1 last year in games where Rodriguez didn’t give up a long ball, and 6-5 in games where he did.

If Rodriguez irons out those deficiencies in his game, he has the talent to be the Orioles’ next All-Star-level pitcher. His combination of elite velocity, great changuep, excellent spin on his breaking balls and elite extension caused by his 6’5” frame makes him an imposing presence for any opposing hitter. Rodriguez put up 11 quality starts in 20 outings last year and he was starting to show the ability to get deep in games before injuries derailed his season.

FanGraph’s ZIPS projections have Rodriguez projected to finish third among Orioles pitchers with 2.1 WAR in 2025. Perhaps the most concerning part of the projection is ZIPS’s prediction that Rodriguez will make only 22 starts in 2025. The rest of his projected stats are as follows:

Gavin Lux Reacts to Facing Dodgers for First Time in Career…

nd of be ready for whatever,” Lux said. “I feel pretty comfortable over there. I played a little bit over there in the Minor Leagues. It’s not totally unfamiliar.

“I think I will be prepared to be anywhere at any time.”

More news: Dave Roberts Noncommittal on Chris Taylor’s Role for Dodgers in 2025

While Lux was stunned to be traded at the time, he has embraced this next chapter and is bringing his postseason experience to a team eager to win.

“This is a really good group,” Lux said of the Reds. “It’s young. A lot of guys with talent. It’s a really good group of guys that have fun playing baseball. We want to win. A lot of guys are right around my age. It’s fun to play with guys in similar situations as you.”

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Lux isn’t going to see much time in the outfield to start but he did arrive in Goodyear, Ariz., prepared to play wherever.

“I’ve got three (gloves). One for third [base], one for second [base] and one for the outfield,” Lux said.

Lux also saw time at third base four times in the minors and dedicated additional offseason work to the position.

“I got a good amount of reps at third just to kind of be ready for whatever,” Lux said. “I feel pretty comfortable over there. I played a little bit over there in the Minor Leagues. It’s not totally unfamiliar.

“I think I will be prepared to be anywhere at any time.”

More news: Dave Roberts Noncommittal on Chris Taylor’s Role for Dodgers in 2025

While Lux was stunned to be traded at the time, he has embraced this next chapter and is bringing his postseason experience to a team eager to win.

“This is a really good group,” Lux said of the Reds. “It’s young. A lot of guys with talent. It’s a really good group of guys that have fun playing baseball. We want to win. A lot of guys are right around my age. It’s fun to play with guys in similar situations as you.”

Have you joined our Discord Channel yet? Be a part of the ultimate Dodgers Nation community and get VIP Nation Access! Don’t miss out on real-time Dodgers talk, call-in access to Dodgers Dougout, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive interviews, giveaways, and more!