OK, I’ll say it up front: this wasn’t the best week in the Orioles’ minor leagues this year.
The fateful injury to Grayson Rodriguez, the top pitching prospect in baseball (and the Birds’ #2 prospect behind the recently promoted Adley Rutschman), casts a shadow over the entire system — and throws a wrench in the club’s rebuild. Rodriguez, before suffering a Grade 2 lat strain in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s start at Norfolk, was expected to arrive in the major leagues as early as this month, joining his battery mate Rutschman in gaining big league experience as the two spearheaded the club’s eventual return to contention.