Grayson Rodriguez, a former first round pick, and one of the Orioles’ most prized possessions, finally got the chance to make his MLB debut on Wednesday. Although he got into some trouble, his debut was overall very impressive, and a wonderful sign of what’s to come for the young righty. Today, we will be going through Grayson’s debut, and fully breaking down his very impressive start.

1st Inning

Grayson Rodriguez would take the hill for his first appearance as a big league pitcher, with his first batter being former all-star, Marcus Semien. Grayson would open his MLB career with a first pitch fastball that clocked in at a whopping 97.8 MPH. As that ball was being thrown out of play as a souvenir for the young righty, Grayson would continue to work through his rookie jitters. Rodriguez would unfortunately go on to show more first start jitters, by unfortunately walking Semien after a fastball that made it 2-2.

Rodriguez’s next hitter would be none other than left-handed superstar Corey Seager. With some more of his nerves settling in, Rodriguez started strong once again with a first pitch, 97.5 MPH fastball in there for strike one. Rodriguez would try to throw two straight changeups for strikes, although missing inside with both pitches. After getting a foul ball against another fastball, Rodriguez would be able to induce a ground ball to Ryan Mountcastle over at first, although unfortunately only getting Semien out at second.

With his first big league out in the books, Rodriguez prepared to battle with another lefty slugger, Nathaniel Lowe. After two straight strikes at the beginning of the at bat, Rodriguez would fall even in the count, 2-2, shortly after. After a foul ball on a slider inside, Rodriguez would go back to his changeup. This proved to be a great choice, as it was lightly lined to Jorge Mateo for his second big league out.

After a wild pitch would advance Corey Seager to second base, Grayson prepared to battle another strong bat, this time being former all-star, Adolis Garcia. After another first pitch strike on a fastball, Garcia and Rodriguez would battle back and forth, quickly getting the count to 2-2. Unfortunately though, on the fifth pitch of the AB, Rodriguez would make the first of many mistakes. This time, a fastball that caught too much of the plate, proving costly as Garcia would drive it for a double. Although unfortunate, the young righty still had work to do.

Rodriguez would face another young star, and former first round selection, Josh Jung. Jung and Rodriguez would battle back and forth, similarly to Garcia, until they reached an even count at 2-2. Although, Rodriguez would make yet another unfortunately placed changeup, that would be rocked into left field for another RBI hit.

After a quick mound visit from his pitching coach, Rodriguez felt much more confident and ready to go for his at bat against MLB veteran, Robbie Grossman. This at bat would only last two pitches though, as the second pitch of the at bat would be grounded hard to Adam Frazier at second which got Rodriguez out of the inning. Although a rocky start, Rodriguez still had plenty of work to do, but for now, he could relax and unwind a bit.

2nd Inning

Rodriguez’s first batter of the second inning would happen to be Mitch Garver, who is off to a hot start this season. After throwing two, almost identical fastballs over 96 MPH, the at bat would end quickly on a groundout recorded by Adley Rutschman.

As Rodriguez’s next batter, Jonah Heim, walked to the plate, the rookie flamethrower was feeling much more confident. Rodriguez would pound the zone, challenging Heim with four, almost similar center cut fastballs. After a called strike and three foul balls, the at bat would again end relatively fast on a groundout to Ryan Mountcastle once again. After his second straight out, Rodriguez had fully settled in, and was looking much more confident than the first inning.

Rodriguez would then go on to face left fielder, Ezequiel Duran. With Rodriguez feeling more confident, he would immediately test Duran with a first pitch slider in for a strike. He would then go back to his trusty heater, again for a strike. And finally, on the third pitch of the at bat, Rodriguez would go back to his slider, recording his first major league strikeout! After the huge accomplishment, Rodriguez had gotten another one of his milestones off the board. But, Rodriguez still had plenty of work to do.

3rd Inning

As the lineup turned over for the first time in the game, Rodriguez would face a now familiar foe in Marcus Semien. And once again, Semien would be a thorn in Rodriguez’s side, as he would single on a soft ground ball to Gunnar Henderson. But, Semien would also get to second on a throwing error by Gunnar as well.

Rodriguez would then be on to face Corey Seager for the second time in his debut, but this time with much more confidence. Rodriguez would waste no time attacking Seager with a curveball in the dirt for a swinging strike one. After a questionable call for ball one, Grayson would continue to look dominant against the former all-star. Grayson would go back to his trusty fastball, throwing two more for swinging strikes. Rodriguez would get his second big league strikeout, but once again, still had more work to do.

The next at bat would be Nathaniel Lowe once again, but would end incredibly quickly. After throwing a first pitch cutter inside at 90.5 MPH, Lowe would ground out to Adam Frazier.

Adolis Garcia would be the next man up, and Grayson would attack him quickly with a first pitch fastball, slightly over 97 MPH for strike one. After three straight sliders which made it 2-2, Garcia would return to his changeup, this time throwing it at the bottom of the zone. This time, the changeup would be grounded to Henderson, which would make for a simple throw to first for the third out of the inning.

4th Inning

As Josh Jung walked to the plate, I’m sure the RBI he recorded earlier in the game began replaying in Grayson’s head, but he made quick work of the righty. Grayson would throw Jung a first pitch fastball, that would be immediately lined to Anthony Santander for the first out of the inning.

The next batter up would be left fielder Robbie Grossman. The first pitch thrown to Grossman would be a fastball once again, this time at 95.6 MPH. After falling even on a curveball in the dirt, Grayson would jump right back with another heater in there for a strike. Unfortunately, Rodriguez would miss with his next pitch, as the curveball caught a little too much of the plate. Grossman wasted no time, singling on a sharp line drive. With one runner on, it was time to retire the side quickly.

Mitch Garver would walk to the plate next, trying to make quick work of his at bat, and drive in a run. Rodriguez would try to get him chasing a first pitch slider, but Garver laid off. After a long back and forth that lasted 7 pitches, Rodriguez would freeze Garver on a fastball off the plate for strike three. Great work by the young star Rodriguez, as he would come out on top of Garver.

The next batter up would be Jonah Heim, another Rangers catcher. After falling behind 2-0 as he missed a first pitch changeup and second pitch fastball, Rodriguez would get Heim flailing at a fastball for the first strike of the at bat. Rodriguez would then go right back to falling behind, as he’d be down 3-1 after another miss on a changeup. But, Rodriguez would stay resilient, and would come back to strike out Heim on a foul ball back into the glove of Adley Rutschman for the third out of the inning.

5th inning

After the Orioles would answer back with two runs of their own to tie the game, Rodriguez began his final inning of work. This time, the first batter up would be Ezequiel Duran. After two strikes right away, Rodriguez would fall even at 2-2 after miss locating both a slider and a fastball. But, after a foul ball on another fastball, Rodriguez would be able to induce a soft lineout on a slider off the plate for our number one.

Rodriguez would now be facing Marcus Semien once again, but would make quick work of the righty. After spiking a cutter in the dirt, Rodriguez would toss a changeup that would be grounded to Gunnar Henderson for the second out of the inning.

The last at bat of the day for Rodriguez would come against none other than Corey Seager. Rodriguez would start out with a first pitch changeup, but it would unfortunately miss for ball one. No worries though, as Rodriguez would throw another changeup right after for strike one. After falling behind 2-1 on a fastball, Seager would foul off another changeup to make the count even at 2-2. Rodriguez’s final pitch of the day would be next, as he’d get Seager swinging on a fastball, which clocked in at 96.9 MPH. Rodriguez would then be removed after the conclusion of the 5th inning, also concluding his MLB debut.

Final Thoughts

Rodriguez looked really solid in his MLB debut, with his final line showing 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, and 5 strikeouts. Rodriguez looked very sharp, and more than ready to make his MLB debut. Aside from a few mistake pitches, which caused Rodriguez his 2 earned runs, he looked very dominant.

Rodriguez would throw his full arsenal in his MLB debut, as he’d throw 49% 4-seam fastballs, 23% sliders, 17% changeups, 6% curveballs, and 5% cutters. Rodriguez would peak at 98.2 MPH for his fastest pitch of the evening, which is a very encouraging sign for the righty. Rodriguez would also pitch to an impressive, 14 whiffs, and overall zone percentage of 55% for strikes. Rodriguez’s spin numbers were also super encouraging, as he threw three of his 5 pitches to spin rates over 2,400 RPM.

As previously mentioned, Rodriguez’s debut was incredibly impressive, and Orioles fans all over the globe should be overjoyed that their next future star has finally reached the big league level. As for what the future holds for G-Rod, well, only the future will tell. But I can confidently say that this is a very strong beginning to a great career.