The Orioles announced Wednesday that theyve placed right-hander on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. The move is retroactive to April 30. Rodriguez will be replaced by veteran lefty , who has been reinstated from a stint on the 15-day IL himself. Means has yet to pitch this season while recovering from a left forearm strain. To this point, its George Brett Jersey unclear when Rodriguez hurt himself or how serious the injury is. He started Mondays game and went 5 2/3 innings, throwing 101 pitches in the proce s. Until more information comes from the club, it can only be speculated as to how long hell out. Regardle s, its always a bit concerning when anything goes on with a pitchers throwing arm. Losing Rodriguez for any amount of time is a blow to the Os since he has been in good form for quite a while now. His big league career got off to a rough start last year, as he had a 7.35 earned run average through 10 starts. The Orioles optioned him to the minors and recalled him almost two months later, with Rodriguez posting good results since then. He had a 2.58 ERA after that recall last year and he has a 3.71 mark so far this year. Going back to that midseason call-up last year to today, he has a 2.93 ERA over 19 starts. In that time, he has a 24.4% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate. Subtracting that kind of pitcher would hurt any rotation, but the Os also have and on the injured list. Until today, Means was in that group as well. After todays transactions, the healthy rotation consists of Means, , , and . Burnes is excellent but there are some question marks behind him. Irvin has a good ERA this year but iffy peripherals that suggest hes not much different from past seasons. Kremer has a 4.19 ERA despite a .209 batting average on balls in play he wont be able to maintain. Surez has looked good in his three starts but its anyones gue s if he can keep it going since hes 34 years old and this is his first stint in the majors since 2017. As for Means, hes a big unknown himself. The lefty posted a 3.81 ERA with the Os until requiring Tommy John surgery in April of 2022. He returned late last year and made four starts but didnt make the clubs postseason roster due to some elbow sorene s. He began this year on the IL and has been rehabbing in recent weeks, but with shaky results. He has thrown 18 2/3 innings for Triple-A Norfolk but with 18 earned runs allowed in that time. Its impo sible to say what Means can provide for the club this year after hardly pitching at all in the previous two seasons and his poor results during his rehab, though he would be an a set if he could even get part of the way back to his pre-surgery form. Bradish is also nearing activation, which will give Baltimore another arm to bolster the group and could perhaps push Surez into a long relief role in the bullpen. Hal Mcrae Jersey