Angels’ Grayson Rodriguez enjoying a spring without bone spurs

TEMPE, Ariz. — Although it’s too early to know if Grayson Rodriguez can finally be healthy, it’s not too early for him to know he’s ahead of last year.

The Angels’ right-hander said he’d been pitching with bone spurs bothering him since he was in Double-A in 2021. The discomfort was manageable enough for him to pitch, until last spring.

“Last year, coming into spring training was the first time I couldn’t really shake it,” Rodriguez said. “Just not being able to fully extend my elbow, obviously that lat’s going to fire twice as hard. A lot of extra stress there.”

Rodriguez said the lat issues that sent him to the injured list in 2024 and the elbow problems that knocked him out of the 2025 season were related.

He had surgery in August to remove the bone spurs.

“It feels a lot better,” Rodriguez said. “I’m pretty excited. Not pitching at all last year was terrible. It just makes me twice as excited for this season. Just to go out there and try to make 30 starts.”

At this point, there has been no talk of managing his workload because of the time he missed last season.

“We’re coming out here to win,” Angels manger Kurt Suzuki said. “There’s no limitations that I know right now. He feels good. He’s going to pitch.”

Rodriguez has thrown two bullpen sessions so far. He will probably face hitters within the first couple days of full-squad workouts, which start Monday.

As he progresses through each test, all eyes will be on him. His status is one of the most intriguing storylines of the Angels’ spring.

Rodriguez, 26, showed the stuff to be a top of the rotation starter when he broke into the majors with the Baltimore Orioles. The question is his health, which is why the Orioles traded him to the Angels for Taylor Ward.

“I’m excited to watch him,” Suzuki said. “We haven’t seen much of him. It’s still early in camp. He threw a couple bullpens. Looks good. Says he feels good. Obviously the potential is there. Once he ramps up and gets into some game action, I’m expecting it to be fun to watch.”

Suzuki made it clear earlier this week that Rodriguez needs to pitch well, in addition to being healthy, to secure his spot in a rotation that includes left-handers Yusei Kikuchi and Reid Detmers and right-hander José Soriano.

“I haven’t really focused on that,” Rodriguez said of the competition. “Just coming in, getting my work done. Just control what you can control and everything will kind of handle itself. I expect myself to be in that rotation. That’s not really what I’m worried about right now. Uh, right now the only things I’m worried about are making sure I can go out there and make bullpens and start facing hitters and all the rest will just take care of itself.”

TEODOSIO’S BAT

Center fielder Bryce Teodosio said he is optimistic about the work he did over the winter to improve his performance at the plate.

“I feel like I’m in a really good spot,” Teodosio said. “Working on a lot of things with my hitting and bunting, getting stronger and faster. Just kind of getting the body back. Definitely ready to roll.”

Teodosio is an elite defensive center fielder. He hit just .203 with a .553 OPS last season. No matter how good his defense is, he needs to do better than that to justify regular playing time. There’s some thought in the organization that even a .600 OPS would be sufficient.

One of the key ingredients to getting on base more is for him to work on bunting for hits.

“I feel it’s getting a lot better,” Teodosio said of his bunting. “I worked at it really hard and it’s just going to continue to get better. When we get it going, I think it’s really going to help me.”

INJURY UPDATES

Right-handers Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson each threw bullpen sessions from the front slope of the mound Saturday. It was the second such workout of the spring for Joyce, and the first for Stephenson.

Both pitchers said afterward that they felt “great.”

Joyce is rehabbing from right shoulder surgery. Stephenson missed the end of last season with what he described as “thoracic outlet symptoms.” Stephenson said he’s still planning to be ready for Opening Day, while Joyce has not set a timeline for himself.

Right-hander Nick Sandlin, who had arthroscopic elbow surgery last fall, has still not thrown a bullpen session, but he has been throwing.

“He’s progressing on his throwing program,” Suzuki said. “When he gets on the mound, we’ll be excited to see him.”