Humbled by demotion, Tides pitcher Grayson Rodriguez eager to start path back to Baltimore

NORFOLK — When the Baltimore Orioles recalled Grayson Rodriguez in early April after just one start for the Norfolk Tides, his arrival in Charm City received the kind of hype befitting a long-awaited, elite prospect.

The flame-throwing right-hander had gone 25-9 with a 2.49 ERA in 70 minor league appearances, including 69 starts, over parts of five seasons since being drafted 11th overall out of his Texas high school in 2018.

Rodriguez, whose fastball sits in the high 90s and touches triple digits, looked the part. At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, he is an imposing presence on the mound.

But none of that, Rodriguez quickly learned, makes much difference to major league hitters. In 10 starts for the Orioles, Rodriguez went 2-2 with a 7.35 ERA while struggling at times with fastball command.

He was optioned back to Norfolk after a May 26 start against the Texas Rangers in which he allowed eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.

The time in the big leagues gave Rodriguez an understanding of what he needs to do better.

“I learned a lot,” he said following an afternoon bullpen session this week. “Obviously, big league hitters can hit mistakes. I’m trying to eliminate those mistakes, and this is a place that we can go out and get consistent reps in doing that.”

After being optioned, Rodriguez had three days to get back to Norfolk. Since then, he’s been working his way back to game form. He’ll test it Saturday night, when he makes his first start since returning, against Gwinnett at Harbor Park.

Tides manager Buck Britton knows exactly what to look for.

“It’s consistency in the strike zone, command,” Britton said. “Command of the fastball, I think, is a big thing. Just kind of getting him back on track.”

How that happens varies from pitcher to pitcher, Norfolk pitching coach Justin Ramsey said.

“Sometimes, it’s mental. Sometimes, it’s physical,” Ramsey said. “It’s just finding the balance for the guy to trust his stuff and get it through the zone.”

There is no shame in not sticking in the major leagues the first time. Players often dip a toe in the figurative water, only to find that it’s too hot.

Rodriguez, 23, happened to come back to Norfolk in time to see something the vast majority of people never do: At Friday’s game, the Tides gave away Bobbleheads in his likeness to the first 2,000 fans through the gate.

Despite his recent setback, such tributes likely remain in Rodriguez’s future.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of Rodriguez that “he’ll be a really, really good starting pitcher in this league.”

“I think it’s more normal than not to have a guy come up here and go through a little bit of adversity and go back down,” Hyde told reporters in Baltimore, “knowing and understanding what he needs to work on to get back up here.”

Because of his high profile, Rodriguez took considerable social media heat as he began to struggle. Some fans, ignorantly overlooking his raw tools and pristine minor league resume, began to question whether Rodriguez is even equipped to pitch in the big leagues.

Britton, who knows otherwise, called them “fair-weather fans.”

“When he pitches good, they love him,” Britton said. “When he pitches bad, they hate him. But to say that he sucks, they must not watch much baseball. Because when the gun’s lighting up 99 and he’s got a changeup that works for him, for him it’s just about location. Those guys up there are good, man. You fall behind, you make mistakes, they make you pay for it. But he’s going to be fine.”

Rodriguez, who signed with the Orioles for a reported $4.3 million, was in the major leagues long enough to realize that the top of his profession puts the next step below it to shame.

The infinitely easier travel, the gourmet food, the cathedral-like stadiums — all of it drives Triple-A players to do all they can to get a sustained taste.

Rodriguez said it was everything he imagined it would be.

“It’s definitely the place you want to be,” he said. “It didn’t come up short at all, so we’re going to fight to get back there.”

Britton, a longtime minor league utilityman, said he didn’t have to devote time to consoling Rodriguez when he rejoined the team.

“It’s easy with Grayson because he doesn’t really have an ego, to be honest,” Britton said. “He understands that he’s got to be competitive enough to help that team win. And he showed signs of being really good, and he had some times where he struggled a bit. But I think it’s going to be easy for Grayson because, like I said, there is no ego. He knows the task at hand, and he’s going to go and attack whatever he needs to so he can go back.”

After the fanfare surrounding his April promotion, and then his unceremonious demotion after the first sustained on-field adversity of his professional career, Rodriguez isn’t sulking.

He’s simply going back to work.

“It’s definitely humbling,” Rodriguez said. “I think baseball’s a humbling game. It’s a game of failure. It’s going to happen, but it’s how you bounce back.”

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com. Twitter @DavidHallVP.