Grayson Rodriguez to make first start for Angels vs. Dodgers

Grayson Rodriguez is scheduled to make his first start for the Los Angeles Angels as they hope to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers on Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.

The 26-year-old right-hander was considered the club's top offseason acquisition, imported from the Baltimore Orioles at a heavy price -- outfielder Taylor Ward -- despite having missed the entire 2025 campaign because of an elbow injury that eventually required surgery.

Rodriguez has not pitched in a major league game since July 31, 2024.

He was deemed healthy enough to pitch for the Angels in spring training and threw 12 2/3 innings in four starts, but suffered from shoulder inflammation and was shelved indefinitely.

After two minor league rehab outings, including last Sunday for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Rodriguez once again has been given the green light. He is slated to be reinstated from the injured list to face the Dodgers in the Freeway Series.

"I just thank God that I'm here," Rodriguez told reporters on Saturday before the Dodgers' 15-2 win. "It was a tough road for sure. My wife, my family, they helped me through it.

"Rehab, there's a lot of dark days with that. And for a little bit just kind of wondering why certain things kept happening. Finally, obviously, getting to this organization and working with this medical staff, we got our thumb on it and got after what needed to be better, and here we are."

Rodriguez made 43 starts for the Orioles in 2023 and 2024, going 20-8 with a 4.11 ERA. He has seen the Dodgers just once, pitching the first five innings of a 6-4 home loss for the Orioles on July 17, 2023. He did not get a decision after allowing four runs.

His Angels debut will come against a team that's won four in a row, outscoring its opponents 30-4. The Dodgers opened this series with a 6-0 win before recording a season-high 15 runs in the rematch.

Hoping for that same offensive output will be right-hander Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.88), who has gotten a total of six runs of support this season in his three losses.

The 24-year-old has never faced the Angels in his two-year career.

Once seen as a candidate for a role in the bullpen, where he pitched effectively last postseason, Sasaki is now being counted upon to help anchor the starting rotation with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow having gone on the injured list.

"It seems like every year we go through it," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lamented to reporters before the game Saturday about the health of his pitching staff. "What I have learned is we get through it. It doesn't feel great when you're in it, (but) in baseball, it happens all the time with pitching."

The Dodgers have benefited this week from the return of shortstop Mookie Betts, who missed 33 games with a strained right oblique.

The eight-time All-Star and 2018 American League MVP has just four hits in five games since his return, but they've been impactful. He has homered in two of his past three starts.

- Field Level Media