SARASOTA, Fla. — Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish revealed Monday that he pitched the second half of the 2023 season and his eight starts in 2024 with elbow pain.
Such is life as a major league pitcher. Sometimes, the elbow is screaming, but there’s little choice but to pitch through it.
However, that revelation — which Bradish provided in his first time talking with local media since he underwent elbow surgery — could be seen as positive news for Bradish’s future with the Orioles.
Bradish was dominant in the second half of the 2023 season and in his eight starts last year. He posted a 2.34 ERA in the second half of 2023 as he finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting. Then, to begin 2024, he pitched to a 2.75 ERA while striking out a whopping 32.5% of batters.
If that’s how Bradish pitched when his elbow was in pain, how good can he be when he’s fully healthy?
When that is remains to be seen. Manager Brandon Hyde said Bradish is “right on track” and that the hope is he returns “at some point in the second half.”
“Whenever somebody is coming off Tommy John or a major injury or surgery, I’m optimistic and hoping for the best,” Hyde said. “I believe in Kyle’s makeup. He’s a bulldog. It’s been hard for him not being able to be out there with the team last year. But he’s doing an amazing job from a rehab standpoint. He’s checking off all the boxes.”
The right-hander didn’t want to guess what month he could return this season. After all, he’s only playing catch on flat ground and has yet to mix in offspeed pitches.
“Just hopefully at some point this year,” he said.
Undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery doesn’t just affect a pitcher physically. The recovery is often difficult mentally, as pitchers have to wait months to even play catch and normally between 14 and 16 months before returning to game action.
READER POLL: Who should be the Orioles’ opening day starter?
But Bradish has no doubt he’ll be back to himself once he returns to the mound for the Orioles.
“I have full confidence in myself that I’ll make a full recovery and be back out there like the pitcher I was in ’23 and last year before surgery,” he said.
Bradish reported elbow pain to the team in January 2024 ahead of spring training. The club and Bradish elected for him to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow to help heal the ulnar collateral ligament and expedite his recovery. The PRP injection is a common choice for pitchers with partially torn UCLs, as Bradish had, but it’s far from a foolproof solution.
Bradish made his debut in May, but six weeks later, the pain became too much and he left his start on June 14 against the Philadelphia Phillies early. A week later, he was under the knife to get the procedure he’d originally hoped to avoid when getting the PRP injection.
“There was definitely some significant pain, but, I don’t know, I was out there trying to help my team win,” Bradish said. “After that Phillies start, I just knew I couldn’t do it again.
“The whole elbow was in pain instead of just a specific spot.”
Bradish doesn’t regret getting the PRP injection because he wasn’t certain at the time he needed Tommy John surgery.
“I’m glad I gave it a shot and got the injection,” he said. “What I was feeling was what I was kind of dealing with in the second half the year before. We didn’t know to what extent it was, so I decided I could go out and pitch and do the same thing. It just kind of gradually got worse. But I think if I would have gotten surgery in January, there kind of would have been a little regret and questioning if maybe I didn’t have to get surgery because it didn’t feel that bad at that moment.”
Bradish said his arm feels “really good” and he’s suffered no setbacks in his recovery. He said it’s helped to have other pitchers to rehab with, including Tyler Wells this spring and Danny Coulombe last summer.
Wells, who also underwent UCL surgery, said last week he’s “cherishing the time” he has with the team before they leave Sarasota to head north.
“That’s one of the things about rehab sometimes, like when you’re away from the guys, it feels like you’re on an island by yourself with the other guys you’re going through rehab with,” Wells said. “It’s an unfortunate but fortunate thing with Bradish being so close. We’ve been able to rely on each other as well. During that timeframe when we’re not around the guys, we have each other.”
The 28-year-old said he feels more “normal” now that he’s around his teammates every day, even though this is far from a normal spring training for him. Last season, Bradish said he watched “every single game possible” on television.
“It’s not like I really left it,” he said. “Just left the team for a little bit.”
Adley’s barrage
What happened to Adley Rutschman last season? Was he injured? Was it a mechanical problem with his swing?
The questions in 2024 remained mostly unanswered. But he quieted some concern Monday with his impressive power display during live batting practice. Rutschman took two at-bats during the session at Ed Smith Stadium. Both ended with him walking back to the dugout as the baseball landed over the fence.
My god. Adley isn’t messing around. He did it again.
This time, off Albert Suarez, Rutschman blasted a home run to RCF on the 7th pitch of the at-bat. https://t.co/53K59SwNhU pic.twitter.com/LhUr2Ik1GB
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) February 17, 2025
In his first at-bat against Grayson Rodriguez, Rutschman took a 2-0 pitch for a strike and complimented his friend. “Nice,” the catcher said loud enough for Rodriguez to hear. The next pitch, Rutschman turned on a fastball and parked it over the right field fence.
Ten minutes later, he faced Albert Suárez, fouling off several pitches and demolishing the seventh over the left-center field wall.
Just listen to the sound of these Adley Rutschman homers pic.twitter.com/ogqNl15kJH
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) February 17, 2025
The Orioles have expressed confidence that Rutschman will get back to being the player he was through the first half last season, not who he was in 2024’s second half. His performance Monday is a step in the right direction.
Around the horn
• Closer Félix Bautista threw his second bullpen session in four days. General manager Mike Elias said the Orioles would “take it slow” with Bautista this spring as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. But the 6-foot-8 closer appears to be in great shape with mechanics that are in sync, while mixing in offspeed pitches with his hard fastball.
• Tomoyuki Sugano’s first bullpen session is being moved back to Tuesday, Hyde said. The Japanese star recently traveled from Tokyo and wanted another day to recover.
Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.
