The Baltimore Orioles are calling up right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and he will make his big league debut Wednesday against the Texas Rangers and Jacob deGrom, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Tuesday.
Rodriguez is ranked as the No. 12 prospect in baseball by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
Rodriguez, 23, was expected to compete for a spot in the Orioles’ Opening Day rotation, but he struggled to a 7.04 ERA in 15 1/3 innings during spring training. He allowed 14 runs (11 earned) in his final 10 2/3 innings of spring and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
However, a foot injury to right-hander Kyle Bradish on Monday required Tyler Wells to pitch in relief instead of making his scheduled start Tuesday. Kyle Gibson moved up a day in the rotation to pitch Tuesday, leaving a spot open for Rodriguez for Wednesday afternoon’s game in Arlington, Texas.
Rodriguez was selected with the 11th overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft. Across parts of five minor league seasons, he has posted a 25-9 record with a 2.49 ERA in 70 appearances (69 starts).
Rodriguez’s call-up was first reported by Baseball America.
Reuters contributed to this report.