Bradish shines in Orioles’ 7-4 loss to Pirates

We are starting to get to the grit of spring training games where more and more regulars will play as they prepare for the season.

Today, the Orioles faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates, whom they will play six times this spring, and Kyle Bradish was making his O’s debut for the 2023 season. 

Bradish wasted no time getting to it, as he retired all six batters he faced in order. He would strike out two in the first before allowing the defense to do the work in the second. 

The young righty would pitch a total of 26 pitches, 17 for strikes. He commanded the strike zone well and mixed his arsenal up to keep batters guessing in the box.

“Anytime you go out there and you have five weapons that are working, it makes pitching easier, but it’s still early,” Bradish said. “There’s still stuff to work on, so not going to look too much into this, but it’s nice to have some success early.”

Another young talent making his debut was MLB Pipelines No. 1 prospect Gunnar Henderson. The reason for the delay in his debut was some wrist soreness, but O’s manager Brandon Hyde assured everyone he could have played if it were the regular season.

Playing third base today, Henderson collected a hit in his first at-bat. He ended his day 1-for-2, helped turn a double play and made a nice diving stop in the field. Outside of a dropped ball on a stolen base attempt, it was a good start to the spring for the early AL Rookie of the Year favorite. 

“We’re all really fierce competitors, but we all love each other, and we want to see the best out of each and every person here,” Henderson said. “We all try to do whatever we can to help, and that’s ultimately going to win us a championship one day.”

Jordan Westburg turned some heads with his approach today. Playing second base, the O’s fifth-ranked prospect would go 2-for-3 with a run and RBI, though he would get caught stealing. 

What caught everyone’s attention was that his hits registered at 108.1 and 101.3 mph off the bat. Westburg is showing he can handle the stick as well as the glove in his first spring training. 

Terrin Vavra played left field today and collected another hit, giving him a three-game hitting streak and five total hits so far this spring. Franchy Cordero would hit a two-run homer to straight center as he looks to become Ryan Mountcastle’s backup.

It’s still early, and this is what spring training is all about: getting timing down, working on fundamentals and getting focused for the season.   

The Orioles would collect six total hits in the game before ultimately falling 7-4 to Pittsburgh.  

Side Notes:

The game today featured a bottom of the ninth with no umpires. According to Hyde, they wanted to continue playing to get the pitchers their work.

Apparently, crew chief umpire Chad Fairchild thought differently and left the field and the game. 

Bradish would throw 13 more pitches after he excited the game. Even though he had everything working, he wanted to get 40 pitches in.

Anthony Santander said he is okay and has strong bones after getting hit on the knee cap by an 85 mph pitch in yesterday’s game. He expects to be in tomorrow’s lineup after x-rays came back negative.  

Also, Hyde said right-hander Ryan Watson did not pitch as expected yesterday due to neck soreness. 

In the next three games, we will see Cole Irvin start tomorrow against the Blue Jays in Sarasota, Grayson Rodriguez on Thursday against the Tigers in Lakeland and Kyle Gibson Friday against the Pirates in Sarasota.

Game time: two hours and 40 minutes

Who stood out to you today for the O’s? Let us know in the comments below! And make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!

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