Grayson

Rodriguez

Rodriguez tossed a clean first inning, then ran into some trouble in the second. Hunter Goodman took him deep for a leadoff homer. The Rockies brought two more runs home on two hits and two walks before Rodriguez could escape the inning. After a scoreless third inning, the Rockies got to Rodriguez again for five more runs in the fourth, including three on a home run by Willi Castro. His day would be done with two outs in the inning at 91 pitches. He struck out three. The 26-year-old left-hander will carry a 10.00 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, and a 17/11 K/BB ratio across 18 innings into a start against the Astros in Anaheim on Monday.

This one was more deserved than the last, in which he gave up four runs over five innings last Friday against the Rangers. Rodriguez allowed two hits, walked two and struck out five today. The lone run came on a wind-aided homer from Wenceel Pérez. Rodriguez has a 7.53 ERA since making his season debut earlier this month, but each outing has been better than the last. He makes for a quality streaming option next week in a home start against the Rockies.

Even though he gave up four runs, Rodriguez surprisingly won the duel against Jacob deGrom. He struck out five despite recording first-pitch strikes on just 12 of 25 batters, and he gave up seven hits and nine hard-hit balls. The stuff is there for him to improve from here, but he has a 10.61 ERA after two starts and is clearly quite a ways away from being a mixed-league option. He’ll likely face the Tigers next.

It was just criminal of the Angels to throw Rodriguez to the wolves like this after one start in the Complex League and one in Low-A ball. His stuff was pretty good today, but he was wild in walking four. He gave up two runs in the second after Jo Adell let an outfield fly drop for a single in right to start a rally. The remaining runs all came in the fifth, when he walked two and gave up four singles. Only one of those singles was a hard-hit ball. Rodriguez struck out four while averaging 96.3 mph with his fastball today. Better days are ahead if he keeps throwing like this. He’ll face the Rangers next time out.

Rodriguez will make his Angels’ debut on Sunday against the Dodgers. The former top prospect looked electric on his recent minor league rehab assignment and should immediately have fantasy relevance in all mixed leagues.

The 26-year-old right-hander has worked his way back from a shoulder ailment that cost him the first seven weeks of the season. When he takes the hill against the Dodgers on Sunday it will be his first time on a big league mound since July of 2024. Rodriguez struck out 11 batters over 4 2/3 innings in his final minor league rehab start and shouldn’t have any major workload restrictions in Sunday’s debut.

Rodriguez looked sharp while piling up 11 punchouts over 4 2/3 innings last weekend in a rehab start for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. The oft-injured 26-year-old appears likely to make his Angels debut after missing the first seven weeks of the year recovering from a shoulder ailment. He’s certainly talented enough to make a fantasy impact, but a wait-and-see approach makes sense since he hasn’t thrown a pitch in the big leagues since July 31, 2024.

He did give up seven hits, and he really should be racking up strikeouts against Low-A hitters. Still, this is encouraging. Rodriguez is already up to 94 pitches already, so the Angels could, theoretically, add him to their rotation at any time. However, he’s not their current year’s first-round pick, so they’ll probably want him to face more advanced competition first.

The 26-year-old right-hander is scheduled to throw around 90 pitches or six innings in the outing. If all goes well with this outing, it’s possible that the Angels could clear him to rejoin the team’s starting rotation, though they may want him to make one additional rehab start against higher level competition first.

The 26-year-old also struck out seven and didn’t issue a walk. We have no velocity readings from this game, and he’s obviously pitching against competition that’s well below MLB-caliber. Still, it’s nice to see him complete five innings without walking anyone. He should move up to an affiliate for his next rehab outing.