Orioles pitcher Grayson Rodriguez is making encouraging progress back from his injured shoulder muscle, but when he returns -- and what role he occupies -- remains uncertain with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Mike Elias on Tuesday afternoon said Rodriguez is "doing really well" and "moving in the right direction." But the Orioles' general manager and executive vice president left open the possibility of temporarily moving Rodriguez to the bullpen when he returns.
That option for Rodriguez was one of several injury updates Elias provided during his 18-minute news conference in the Orioles' dugout at Camden Yards before their game against the San Francisco Giants. Most of the other news from Elias on pitcher Danny Coulombe and infielders Jordan Westburg, Ramón Urías and Ryan Mountcastle was positive. The hope remains for all of them to return by Sept. 29, the final game of the regular season, although Elias did not set any concrete timelines.
The main reason the Orioles could consider putting Rodriguez in the bullpen is the tight timeline for him to return as a starter.
"Time and the calendar is not exactly our friend here with 12 games to go in the regular season," Elias said.
Rodriguez threw another bullpen session Tuesday, and the reports from them continue to be positive, Elias said. But there's a significant difference between tossing 30 pitches in a bullpen and being able to throw 100 pitches during an intense postseason game.
Moving him to a relief role could expedite his timeline to return and allow him to make an immediate impact in the postseason rather than potentially have to wait to rejoin the team. Doing so, though, would put Rodriguez, one of the club's three best starters, into a less valuable role during the most critical part of the season. The sophomore right-hander is 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 116 2/3 innings this season.
"I think time would be the factor that might prevent that kind of [starting pitcher] buildup more than anything, but it's a real factor. And, yeah, a reliever takes less buildup, for sure," Elias said. "But this kid is a starting pitcher. And also, first and foremost, we're going to be most interested in doing the right thing for his health and career, so we'll take all that into account. Very difficult for me to give a real direct answer on that, because it's going to depend on the circumstances of the rest of our staff, the standings, [and more]. There's a lot that's going to go into it."
Elias did not say when the Orioles would decide Rodriguez's role upon his return.
"When we get to a fork in the road about how much to build him up and when, we'll address that then," he said.
Rodriguez suffered the strain to the teres major muscle in his shoulder while warming up for his start on Aug. 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He reported the injury instead of pitching through it -- a move that potentially allowed the possibility of his return this season. The injury to the lat/teres area is the second of his career after he missed three months in 2022 while in the minor leagues with a more severe strain.
It's been six weeks since Rodriguez suffered the injury, and Elias said Tuesday an optimistic timeline at the time would have been six-to-eight weeks. The next step in his rehabilitation progression is to throw a live bullpen session, during which he'd face live hitters. After that would be to pitch a rehab outing for Triple-A Norfolk, whose season ends Sunday, or in a simulated game.
"We're taking it one day at a time, but he is healing and doing really well and that's the most important thing," Elias said.