As Grayson Rodriguez looks to return to the mound for the first time since July 31, 2024, he will be doing it with a brand new team that features a brand new coaching staff coming in.

With the new coaching staff coming in under new Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, there is some familiarity for Rodriguez, as he grew up in Nacogdoches, Texas, watching his new pitching coach, Mike Maddux, when he was with the Texas Rangers.

“I was kind of joking with him on the phone. He’s kind of the first pitching coach I ever knew,” Rodriguez said. “Just because he was the pitching coach for the Rangers for so long, and that was a team I grew up watching, being from Texas, we had both the Rangers and Astros network.”

With the anticipation of doing some throwing drills and spending time with teammates in Sarasota, Florida, at the Orioles’ spring training site, Rodriguez received the news that he was being traded to the Angels just moments after his flight touched down in Tampa.

“I talked to (Orioles general manager, Mike Elias), let me know that I was traded,” Rodriguez said. “Talked to Perry shortly after, and I was super excited.”

Before beginning his long journey of dealing with injuries over the last year and a half, Rodriguez was having a breakout year in 2024, pitching with a 13-4 record, 3.86 ERA, and 130 strikeouts in 20 starts.

In his final start of the 2024 season, his year came to an end due to a late injury. Then last year, he began the season on the injured list and never returned to the mound again after having debridement surgery to repair a bone spur in August.

“That was something that kind of lingered with me for about three or four years now. I’ve had them for a while,” Rodriguez said. “It kind of got to the point where I couldn’t pitch through it. Pretty sure that was what was causing some of the lat injuries.”

“So being able to get those out of there. My arm feels great right now, throwing, there’s really no reason for me not to be ready for spring training.”

With anticipations leading up to the 2026 season, he’s been progressing through his arm injuries by doing a throwing program. The program so far has been successful, and he plans on doing long tossing in the near future.

Rodriguez also believes that his mechanics are fine and he won’t need to make any major adjustments to them. He believes the root of his problems, of not being able to stay healthy, has been tied to the bone spurs he’s dealt with over the last four years.

“I’m sure there’s some small things we could nitpick,” Rodriguez said. “Kind of want to sit down with Maddux and watch some film and kind of see what he wants to do or what he’s got to say about it.”

With the addition of Rodriguez, the Angels’ rotation appears to have four names penciled in during the early stages of the offseason, as he will join Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, and Reid Detmers, who will be returning to the rotation after spending last year as a high-leverage reliever.

If Rodriguez can stay healthy and replicate the success he had in 2024, the Angels will have a front-line starter leading their rotation who will be under club control for the next four years.

It’s a move that can help turn the Angels franchise around, as they have struggled to develop starting pitching and have missed the playoffs over the last 11 years.

“Is there a risk? ‘Yes,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said. “With that being said, it’s four years of control. I mean it’s somebody that when he pitches, he can beat anybody on any given night.” 

“The weapons he has and his ability to throw strikes, it’s a rare combination that some of the best in the game has. We’ve got high expectations and he’s somebody we’re really excited to have.”

With the challenge of bringing Rodriguez back to his old form, it won’t be the first time he has done this as Maddux was Jacob DeGrom’s pitching coach over the last three seasons, including in 2023 when DeGrom tore his UCL and had Tommy John Surgery for the second time in his career.

DeGrom not only missed the 2023 season but also missed most of the next when he returned in September.

Last season, DeGrom looked like he didn’t miss a beat, starting 30 games and appearing in 172.2 innings with a 12-8 record, 2.97 ERA, and 185 strikeouts.

“I think in today’s game there’s so many different throwing programs, arm exercises. There’s are all kinds of stuff,” Rodriguez said. “… I’m really excited to work with him and see what he has to say on some things.”