Orioles' Rodriguez to have season-ending elbow surgery

Baltimore Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will undergo season-ending elbow debridement surgery, according to MLB.com's Jake Rill.

The debridement procedure differs from the far more common Tommy John surgery, and is not related to his ulnar collateral ligament in any way, Elias added, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun. The team is hoping that this surgery will prevent Rodriguez from dealing with elbow impingement problems going forward.

Rodriguez, 25, hasn't pitched this season and last appeared in a game for the Orioles in July 2024. He missed the end of last season with lat discomfort, before landing on the IL with elbow inflammation at the end of spring training. The Orioles moved him to the 60-day IL in late April after he suffered a mild lat strain.

Rodriguez had been ramping up for a potential return until being shut down last week following a setback.

"We feel for him. The whole organization feels for him," interim manager Tony Mansolino said, according to Rill. "I mean, that's a guy we're really counting on here in our organization to get us to where we want to go, in terms of the season and the postseason. Very unfortunate. It's not for a lack of effort, by any means - by him or by our medical staff or by all the people that are involved. It's just a very unfortunate set of circumstances."

The former first-round pick owns a 4.11 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 43 big-league starts since 2023.