Angels activate Grayson Rodriguez for Friday start

Rodriguez struck out six and left with a one-run lead, though that didn’t even survive the sixth. It’s his best outing in the four since he came off the IL and right there with his top performances in 10 tries on the season. Next up for Rodriguez will be his first start against his old friends in Baltimore. It’s doubtful he’ll offer any mixed-league value the rest of the way on an Angels team that’s bad and probably getting worse, but he’s showing enough to make the Taylor Ward trade look like a clear win. The Angels will have him under control through 2029, and he’ll make close to the minimum again next year.

Rodriguez also issued a pair of walks in the ballgame while striking out three. All of the damage that he allowed came via the long ball, with Rafael Devers belting a two-run shot in the opening inning and Casey Schmitt adding a three-run blast in the third. The 26-year-old righty got eight swings and misses on 80 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of just 21 percent. He’ll try to improve upon an increasingly miserable 8.54 ERA and 1.79 WHIP when he takes on the Astros at home on Wednesday.

Rodriguez has simply not been effective in his limited time in the majors with the Angels in 2026, and Saturday was no exception. He gave up four runs in the first — including a three-run homer to Spencer Torkelson — and two more in the second. He settled down over the next two frames, but obviously that means very little. That gives Rodriguez an ERA of 8.63 on the season, and it’s hard to remember the version of the 26-year-old that looked so impressive as a prospect and early on in his career with the O’s. He’ll try and get it going against the Giants on Friday in San Francisco.

Detmers has been a viable fantasy option for most of the first half of the season despite winning only three games, as he registered a 4.19 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 123/35 K/BB ratio across 108 2/3 innings through his first 19 starts. He’ll be followed in the Angels’ rotation by Grayson Rodriguez and Ryan Johnson in their weekend series against the Tigers. Jose Soriano and Walbert Urena will pitch on Monday and Tuesday respectively against the Cardinals.

Seemingly uncomfortable with his breaking balls, Rodriguez completely trashed them away here. While his slider and curveball have combined for about 25% of all the pitches he’s thrown this season, he threw just nine total in this 79-pitch outing. In turn, his fastball, changeup approach didn’t earn a single strikeout and most plate appearances were a grind. Still, he pitched well enough to earn the win and will close the first half with an ugly 7.55 ERA.

That was the expectation all along, but the Angels finally confirmed it on Thursday. Rodriguez looked strong in his latest minor league rehab start, hurling 5 1/3 innings of one-run baseball at Triple-A Salt Lake. Fantasy managers may want to see how he looks one turn through the rotation before throwing him right back to the wolves.

Rodriguez looked sharp in his most recent rehab start; firing 5 1/3 innings of one-run baseball for Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday. The Angels have already optioned Sam Aldegheri, who was previously scheduled to start that contest, to the minors. So assuming no setbacks for Rodriguez, it should be the 26-year-old on the bump for that contest.

Rodriguez threw 78 pitches while allowing four hits, one walk and striking out five. The right-hander’s next steps will be determined in part by how he feels after this outing, but it sounds like he’ll be ready to roll after the All-Star break, at the latest.

Rodriguez allowed five hits and a walk and struck out four. The right-hander will assuredly need at least one more rehab outing before coming back, but assuming all checked out well Sunday and there’s no setbacks after that next outing, he could be back with the Angels around the All-Star break.

That’s day 13 of his required 15 on the IL. Barring a setback, he’ll probably return to the rotation next weekend against the Red Sox.