After an unfortunate UCL injury for Kyle Bradish to begin his year, his start to the 2024 season was put on hiatus.
After over a month of rest and ramp-up, Bradish got to make his first rehab start on April 16 at Prince George’s Stadium when the Double-A Bowie Baysox hosted the Altoona Curve.
Bradish would start the game going 1-2-3, making Matt Frazier and Jackson Glenn ground out to second basemen Frederick Bencosme and then striking out Aaron Shackelford. Bradish threw just 12 pitches, with eight of them being strikes.
After a Dylan Beavers solo home run in the bottom of the first, Bradish would enter the second with an early 1-0 lead.
Bradish would start the second inning with an Abrahan Gutierrez groundout to Collin Burns before giving up his first hit to Tsung-Che Cheng. Bradish would then have Jase Bowen’s ground out to Bencosme and would end the inning striking out Seth Beer. Bradish would throw 15 pitches in the second inning, with eight going for strikes.
Bradish would enter the third inning and go straight to work, striking out Tres Gonzalez on four pitches. He would then have Kervin Pichardo ground out to Burns and would end the inning striking out Frazier. Bradish would throw 17 pitches in the third, with nine of them being strikes.
Bradish would end the game after three innings, giving up just a singular hit and striking out four batters. The O’s crafty right-hander threw 44 total pitches, with 26 of them being strikes, meaning that 59% of the pitches he threw were strikes.
His fastball would top at 96 mph, and he would sit consistently between the 93-95 mph mark through the three innings of work. The most important part, however, was that he threw his breaking pitches with no issue.
This start showed that Bradish is slowly getting back to being his 2023 form, as he continues to get ready for his first start of the season in the majors. Anytime a UCL injury occurs, a gasp fills the air. The O’s might have gotten lucky in this instance.
If you don’t remember 2023 Bradish, he had a 2.83 ERA in 30 starts and 168.2 innings pitched. He would walk just 44 batters and struck out 168 batters in 2023. This would give Bradish the honor of finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young voting.
A step in the right direction for someone the Orioles will need to have anchor the rotation this season.
What did you think of Bradish’s first rehab outing? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
Represent The Baltimore Battery and show off your fandom with our official merchandise! Reasonably-priced attire made just for you! Visit our official shop site by clicking here!
Like Zack’s content? Follow him on X – @Zackattack8211 and @OsMilbUpdates for all the latest news and updates on the O’s farm system!
THE BALTIMORE BATTERY 
Leave a comment