ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The news wasn’t good, but given how this season has gone for the Orioles, what general manager Mike Elias revealed Saturday was much better than the worst-case scenario.

Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles’ No. 2 starting pitcher, is not expected to miss the rest of the season. Elias said the strain in Rodriguez’s shoulder muscle is “mild” and the club is “hopeful” he returns by the end of the regular season.

The 24-year-old right-hander will be shut down for 10 days and then will receive updated imaging on the muscle to determine the next steps. The injury is to the right lat/teres area of his upper back/shoulder. Elias said the strain is more in the teres major, which is located near the shoulder.

“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get him back up and running before the end of the regular season and position him and us for playoff baseball, which obviously he would be an enormous part of for us,” Elias said. “We’re optimistic at this point that we have a good chance to get him back before the end of September.”

For however long Rodriguez is out, his absence is a big blow to a rotation already hampered by injuries this season. Starters Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells are all out for the season after undergoing elbow surgery, while Dean Kremer spent time on the injured list earlier this season with a triceps strain.

The Orioles were fortunate in 2022 and 2023 to avoid many significant injuries. Aside from Means’ first Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery in 2022 and closer Félix Bautista’s last year, Baltimore was one of the majors’ healthiest teams. That hasn’t been the case this year.

“It’s been a tough injury year for us,” Elias said. “It’s like that all around baseball, it’s part of it and we just keep trucking along.”

Rodriguez suffered the injury while warming up before Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Orioles scratched him from his start, and journeyman Albert Suárez pitched five scoreless innings in his stead.

Elias and manager Brandon Hyde were thankful Rodriguez told pitching coach Drew French that he wasn’t feeling normal instead of pushing through his start, which could have caused a more severe injury.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened if he tried to, but that was a pretty mature move by him, honestly, to know that something didn’t feel right and let us know right away,” Hyde said. “It was a scramble once he let us know, but he definitely did the right thing.”

The injury to that area is the second of Rodriguez’s professional career. In 2022, a strained lat delayed his big league call-up and kept him out for three months. Elias said the club believes Rodriguez’s current strain is “less severe” than the one he suffered two years ago.

Rodriguez was enjoying a solid sophomore campaign with a 3.86 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 116 2/3 innings. His 13 wins lead the Orioles and are ied for first in MLB. His current stint on the IL is his second this season after missing a few weeks in May with right shoulder inflammation.

After an up-and-down rookie season, Rodriguez has been far more consistent this year with only three bad starts out of 20. In the other 17, he’s either pitched at least six innings or allowed two or fewer runs.

“We’re optimistic that he can help us at some point,” Hyde said. “I think he’s starting to feel better already, so that’s a good sign. We’re hopeful we can have him back.”