Grayson

Rodriguez

Rodriguez hit the shelf at the conclusion of an encouraging spring training with shoulder inflammation and was limited to flat-ground throwing for the last few weeks. The 26-year-old former top prospect will require several weeks of build up before he’s ready for a minor league rehab assignment, which puts any potential return back into sometime in May.

It’s nice to here that Rodriguez is with the team as they opened the season and actually throwing to some degree. This is the first report on him since he was placed on the injured list with dead arm and shoulder inflammation and we know that based on his extensive injury history that any morsel of good news is worthwhile.

As expected, Rodriguez will open the regular season on the shelf after experiencing shoulder fatigue during the late stages of spring training. The 26-year-old former top pitching prospect was plagued by injuries during his Orioles tenure and it’s a troubling sign that his Angels run is starting to have the same vibes. It’ll be Ryan Johnson and Jack Kochanowicz taking the final spots in Los Angeles’ rotation to kick off the season.

Rodriguez is currently dealing with dead arm, and while the right-hander told reporters that the injury was “not serious,” it’s bad enough that he won’t be ready for the start of the season. Ryan Johnson and Jack Kochanowicz have been named the fourth and fifth starters for the Angels to begin the campaign. There should be an update on how long Rodriguez will be out in the coming days.

The 26-year-old has been playing catch and doesn’t sound too concerned with his issue: “I’ve had some serious issues in the past. This is not serious.” It’s nice to hear that he isn’t worried, but given his long list of arm injuries in the past, it’s hard to be overly optimistic that he won’t miss any time. It might be best for fantasy managers to avoid this situation in upcoming drafts this weekend.

Suzuki noted that the club will slow him down a bit as he works through the issue, though Rodriguez is still playing catch. While publicly the Halos have said that they aren’t very concerned, given the right-hander’s extensive injury history, it’s a troubling development. It’s going to make it that much more difficult for fantasy managers to call his name on draft day.

Rodriguez walked four, bringing his spring total to 10 bases on balls in 12 2/3 innings. Still, his stuff has been a little better than expected since being acquired from the Orioles. He was regularly sitting 95 mph in the early innings today, topping out at 96.5 mph, before fading in the fourth and fifth. The control issues aren’t ideal, and the Angels do have the option of sending him down for the start of the season. Still, they wouldn’t seem to have five better starters than him.

Rodriguez coughed up three hits, ine of those being a solo homer by Andrew Vaughn. He also issued a pair of walks while fanning two batters. Rodriguez’s results have been mixed at best in his spring action, but the big thing here is that he’s healthy enough to participate. There’s still considerable upside in his right arm, but it’s understandable that fantasy managers might — and probably should — take a wait-and-see approach.

The fact that Rodriguez, who struck out three and only issued one walk in this latest outing, is healthy qualifies as a major fantasy storyline this spring. The 26-year-old is just a few years from being widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the sport before an avalanche of injuries derailed his career and kept him from reaching those lofty expectations. He’s impossible to trust right away in shallow mixed leagues but fantasy managers should monitor his early-season outings, especially if he’s going to keep missing bats with a near 25-percent strikeout rate.

Encouraging is that Rodriguez averaged 96.1 mph with his fastball and topped out at 98.6 mph today. That’s right where he was when last seen in the majors in 2024, though about 1.5 mph off from where he debuted at in 2023. We’re not confident that Rodriguez will prove useful in fantasy leagues this season after experiencing shoulder, lat and elbow problems the last two years, but we wouldn’t at all mind being wrong about that.