The ODU football legends got together for a round of golf and some conversation on Taylor’s NFL past and future.
Author: Scott CashPublished: 8:03 PM EDT April 14, 2022Updated: 8:03 PM EDT April 14, 2022
NORFOLK, Va. — It’s something we have never seen in Norfolk. The top rated pitching prospect in all of minor league baseball pitches for the Tides. Grayson Rodriguez is 22 years old. He was the Baltimore Orioles first draft pick and number 11 overall in the 2018 draft. He has proven to be the real deal.
Tides manager Buck Britton will be the first to tell you, there’s more to Rodriguez than his prowess on the mound, “Great teammate. Always pushing for his teammates to do well, rooting for them. He is a joy to have in the clubhouse.”
What’s behind such an elite talent? Rodriguez says, “Really just going out every fifth or sixth day, putting my best stuff out there, leave it all on the table. I like to throw a lot of fastballs. That’s kind of velocity in my back pocket.”
Britton adds this, “When he gets out there, the focus level turns up. It’s a guy that switches into game mode when he’s out there”
Rodriguez grew up in Texas and was an Astros fan, so it’s no surprise who he says were his favorites, “Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt are some of the guys I watched growing up. Being able to see their success in Houston and other places kind of lit an internal fire in me to be a pitcher.”
It doesn’t look like the Orioles are rushing their hot prospect to get to the major leagues. For now, Triple-A is just right. For Rodriguez that means, “Being able to come down here, face these older guys and just get the craft ready for the big leagues.”
It’s apparent Rodriguez has all the tools including the mental approach which he describes this way, “Being able to repeat your stuff, your delivery. Showing up to the ball park every day, every five or six days when you get the ball to go out and just dominate.”
And dominate is all he has done so far.
