Orioles rookie Grayson Rodriguez shuts down doubters after securing team's playoff berth - "We are trying to wake the world up"

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday to retake the lead in the American League East after dropping the first two games of the series. Grayson Rodriguez threw eight excellent innings, Gunnar Henderson homered and drove in three runs, and the Orioles clinched a potentially significant tiebreaker in the AL East.

Grayson Rodriguez and Gunnar Henderson led the way for the Orioles last night. - masnorioles

Baltimore started the season 19-9, took the AL East lead in the middle of July, and hasn't looked back from March to October. Expectations are still high for the Orioles. They aspire to the AL East title. They intend to make a strong postseason run. They want to capture the fourth World Series title for the team.

According to Rodriguez:

“We knew in Spring Training. That was talked about then, when everyone was sleeping on us. So right now, we’re trying to wake the world up.”

Grayson Rodriguez's baseball career

Baseball pitcher Grayson Rodriguez made his Major League Baseball debut in 2023 with the Baltimore Orioles.

Rodriguez was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. Rodriguez signed a $4.3 million contract with the Orioles in 2018. In 2019, Rodriguez played for the Delmarva Shorebirds and was named a South Atlantic League All-Star.

Hey Birdland… See you February 4th 😏 - grayson.rodriguez16

Rodriguez was allocated to the Aberdeen IronBirds at the start of 2021. To start the 2022 season, Rodriguez was sent to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. On June 2, 2022, he injured his right lat muscle and was sidelined for a significant period of time.

The Orioles announced in 2023 that Rodriguez would start the season in Norfolk rather than as a starter on Opening Day.