Grayson Rodriguez Activated for Sunday Start Against Dodgers
grayson rodriguez is back on the Angels’ active roster. The club activated the right-hander on May 17 and planned to send him to the mound Sunday against the Dodgers.
That move gives the Angels a starter who was controlled through 2029 and had not appeared in a major league game since July 31, 2024. He had been sidelined during Spring Training with shoulder inflammation and dead arm soreness.
Angels Move Manoah
In the corresponding roster move, the Angels optioned right-hander Alek Manoah to Triple-A. The swap cleared room for Rodriguez and put the club’s immediate focus on how quickly he can settle back into game action after a long layoff.
The timing also matters because the Angels had already announced Rodriguez as their scheduled starter for Sunday’s game with the Dodgers on May 16, one day before the activation. That sequence left little doubt about how the team planned to use him once the roster move became official.
Rodriguez’s Long Layoff
Rodriguez’s return carries more weight because he missed 2025 entirely in the majors and minors. A lat strain, multiple instances of elbow soreness and elbow debridement surgery last August kept him out, and his first pitch back now comes after another interruption tied to his shoulder.
Even before the injuries stacked up, he had already given the Orioles a useful profile in 2024. He posted a 3.86 ERA over 116 2/3 innings, with a 26.5% strikeout rate and a 7.3% walk rate before the Orioles traded him to the Angels last November for Taylor Ward.
Angels Rotation Pressure
The Angels have been patching together their starting group while Yusei Kikuchi remained sidelined at least through May with shoulder inflammation. Jose Soriano, Reid Detmers, Walbert Urena and Jack Kochanowicz were among the starters mentioned around Rodriguez’s return, which makes his first Angels appearance a direct roster test as much as a personal comeback.
Ben Joyce’s rehab assignment also has been slowed by discomfort in his surgically repaired right shoulder. Joyce said, “We got a little flare-up….It’s just part of the process after a shoulder surgery”, then added, “Just kind of has ups and downs. But we were pretty positive about the results. Nothing structurally wrong, it’s just working through a little soreness right now.”
