WASHINGTON — The Orioles provided relatively optimistic news about Grayson Rodriguez on Wednesday — but it does nothing to assuage the concerns about when the right-hander will finally make his way back to an MLB mound.

Rodriguez, who’s undergone multiple MRIs on his shoulder since suffering a setback last week, has a mild lat muscle strain and will resume throwing in about two weeks, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said before Baltimore’s game against the Nationals.

“He’s improved quite a bit this last week,” Hyde said. “He’s symptom-free right now. He should start throwing here in a couple weeks.”

The young flamethrower was one of baseball’s top pitching prospects a few years ago, but his career thus far has been marred by injuries.

This is the third time that Rodriguez, 25, has suffered a strain of the lat/teres major muscles near his shoulder since 2022. This is also the fourth arm injury he’s suffered since April 2024. Rodriguez was already recovering from the elbow/triceps inflammation injury he suffered during spring training.

Wednesday’s news could’ve certainly been worse. A team seeking a second opinion for a pitcher with an arm injury is often a bad sign. But Rodriguez last pitched in a regular-season game July 31, and it now appears he will be out until at least the beginning of the summer.

“Yeah, as of right now. I’m hoping so,” Hyde said when asked if this was good news. “I’m trying to stay optimistic about it. He’s had a tough time staying healthy the last few years. … You’re hoping he starts throwing in a couple weeks and his progression and that he stays healthy.”

A Grade 2 lat muscle strain in 2022 delayed his MLB debut. In 2023, Rodriguez struggled and was demoted in May, but he bounced back to become one of the American League’s best starting pitchers in the second half and pitched a career-high 122 innings. Last year, Rodriguez posted a 3.86 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 36 walks across 116 2/3 frames in 2024 and last appeared in a game July 31 against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Rodriguez missed a few weeks early last season with shoulder inflammation. He then suffered a strain of his teres major muscle in August and missed the rest of that season. During spring training this year, he was shut down with an injury that Rodriguez later described on the “Foul Territory” podcast as triceps tendinitis.

The Orioles already have eight pitchers on the injured list: Zach Eflin (lat), Andrew Kittredge (knee), Trevor Rogers (knee), Albert Suárez (shoulder), Kyle Bradish (elbow), Tyler Wells (elbow) and Chayce McDermott (lat). Half of Baltimore’s top pitching prospects are also on the shelf, including Keeler Morfe (finger), Luis De León (elbow), Patrick Reilly (elbow) and Zach Fruit (lat).

Entering Wednesday, the Orioles have by far the worst rotation ERA in the major leagues at 6.22. If that number remains that high until Rodriguez is able to return, the Orioles might not be in position to make a run at a playoff spot in the second half anyway.

Around the horn

Eflin will throw a bullpen session this weekend, Hyde said. It will be Eflin’s first time throwing off a mound since suffering a lat muscle injury during his third start of the season. Eflin was Baltimore’s best starting pitcher before his injury, and the group has since gone on to become the worst rotation in the major leagues.

Prospect Brandon Young will make his second MLB start Friday in Detroit. Young made his MLB debut Saturday at Camden Yards in the Orioles’s 9-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He was optioned to Triple-A after that game but was quickly recalled after Cody Poteet landed on the IL.

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