Happy Tuesday, Camden Chatters! I will be upfront with you all: I did not see the end of last night’s baseball game. The Orioles are a lot of fun right now but I am just too old to be staying up that late on a work night.
I did stay up long enough to watch Grayson Rodriguez and it was a treat. After the disappointing start to his rookie season, Rodriguez seems to be getting better as the season goes on. Last night his velocity remained impressive as he pumped 22 pitches over 99 mph. Five of those were over 100.
The sixth inning has been Rodriguez’s bugaboo. Since he was recalled on July 17th, Rodriguez pitched into the sixth inning in all six starts he has made, including last night. With the exception of the start against the last-place Yankees on July 28th, he’s gotten himself into trouble in that inning.
So when he started the sixth inning by giving up a home run to Garrett Cooper, it was fair to wonder if he’d bounce back. He did just that by striking out the next three batters to get out of the inning. Ultimately he pitched a career-high seven innings. He struck out six, walked one, and gave up only three hits. He has officially become appointment TV for me. Honestly, look at this:
For the full details on Grayson’s start and the game as a whole, be sure to check out Andrea’s recap on the front page.
Have the Orioles finally developed a truly homegrown starting ace? We will need a bit more track record on that, but things look promising.
