There’s a new wrinkle
Rodriguez adds twoseam fastball to keep hitters from sitting on primary four-seamer
SARASOTA, Fla. — On the heels of a promising rookie campaign, Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez is developing a new two-seam fastball he plans to integrate into his existing five-pitch arsenal this season. The right-hander debuted the pitch in his first spring start Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers and left the mound pleased with how it played.
“I threw it a decent amount,” Rodriguez said after his outing. “Something new, still going to work on it. Felt a little bit different throwing a fastball with a different grip but it’s something new to try that I think we’re going to keep doing this year.”
Rodriguez, 23, overcame a slow start in 2023 to finish the year as the Orioles’ choice to start Game 2 of the American League Division Series. Though he didn’t carry over his success into the postseason, he finished the regular season with a 2.58 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over his final 13 starts to show his lofty prospect status was warranted.
Now hoping to put together his first full season in the majors, Rodriguez is trying to add another element to his pitch mix that will keep hitters from sitting on his primary four-seam fastball. He threw the four-seamer 49.6% of the time last season, the most of any pitch by a wide margin. Opponents also had the most success against it, batting .342 off it.
Still tinkering with the grip, Rodriguez is trying to nail down a pitch shape that mimics the fourseamer but has more horizontal movement. He wants to avoid it moving like a sinker, a pitch similar to a two-seamer that has some vertical drop to it.
“I really don’t want a sinker,” Rodriguez said in the clubhouse Wednesday. “I want more of a running fastball. … A sinker would obviously have a low vertical movement or a low vertical height with run. I’m looking to keep the vertical height about the same adding horizontal movement so keeping a true two-seamer, not necessarily a sinker.”
“I want more of a running fastball. … A sinker would obviously have a low vertical movement or a low vertical height with run. I’m looking to keep the vertical height about the same adding horizontal movement so keeping a true two-seamer, not necessarily a sinker.”
When he brought it out Tuesday, the results were eye-popping. Manager Brandon Hyde noted that despite not commanding his breaking balls well, Rodriguez got ahead of hitters early with his fastballs. He sat around 99 mph and hit triple digits in two innings of work.
“Tough to tell because he’s throwing 99,” Hyde said of how the pitch played. “So, I couldn’t really tell from my angle but hitting 100 a few times. The fastball was really good. It was just, like I said, tough time staying ahead in the count. A few too many three-ball counts.”
Rodriguez decided to add the pitch to his arsenal this offseason while working out with mentor and former MLB pitcher Josh Tomlin. He brought the idea to the Orioles and they agreed to work with him on it.
“Obviously, being a four-seam guy, hitters are going to go up there expecting something straight. So, throwing them off of that sightline.”
As a young starter, Rodriguez’s arsenal is still a work in progress. He struggled early in his
— Grayson Rodriguez, Orioles starting pitcher
rookie season, forcing the Orioles to option him back to Triple-A Norfolk when he finished May with a 7.35 ERA and 1.74 WHIP.
They decided to cut down on his use of his cutter and made some tweaks to his delivery to avoid “falling off the mound,” the latter of which helped him generate more spin on his pitches. Rodriguez returned to Baltimore in July and looked the part of a major league starter the rest of the way.
“The cutter was developed in an effort to have it late in the game,” Rodriguez said. “We relied on it pretty heavily there in the first half. I don’t think that’s really my style, how I pitch and was getting beat on it quite a bit. So, really just coming back that second half, establishing the fastball, relying less on the cutter. Not necessarily just throwing it away, just throwing it a little bit less helped me a lot.”
With last year’s top-four AL Cy
Young Award finisher Kyle Bradish expected to miss the start of the season recovering from a UCL sprain, the Orioles will be leaning on Rodriguez early to be a top-of-the-rotation starter alongside Corbin Burnes. If his new two-seamer pans out like he’s hoping, Baltimore’s young starter could unlock a new element of his game.