Orioles Place Kyle Bradish On 15-Day IL With Right UCL Sprain

1:56PM: Hyde told Roch Kubatko and other reporters that Bradish is undergoing further tests and will visit multiple doctors before determining his next course of action, whether it’s surgery or another attempt at a non-surgical recovery.

12:20PM: Bradish has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right UCL sprain, the Orioles announced.  In the best case scenario, this would represent 2.5 months on the shelf for Bradish, replicating his absence in the early part of the season.  However, the pretty quick decision to return Bradish to the IL after last night’s game is an ominous sign towards a longer-term absence.  Left-hander Nick Vespi was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding roster move.

10:35AM: Kyle Bradish left yesterday’s game after five innings due to soreness in his right elbow, and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) that more will be known once Bradish undergoes examination.  Bradish had allowed two earned runs over five innings and 74 pitches against the Phillies, but “he came to us and said his elbow was bothering him, so we’re going to get further tests on that….He had to come out of the game after that inning,” Hyde said.

Any type of elbow injury is cause for concern, though Bradish’s situation is particularly troublesome since he was already sidelined with a sprained UCL earlier this year.  That past injury developed early in Spring Training, so Bradish’s season debut was delayed until May 2 since he had to both get healthy and then start his spring ramp-up work from scratch.

Considering that there were initial concerns that Bradish might need a Tommy John surgery, an early-May return was a huge relief for both the right-hander and the Orioles, and Bradish’s strong performance on the mound further allayed any fears prior to last night.  Bradish has a 2.75 ERA over eight starts and 39 1/3 innings, and is among the league’s elite in such key categories as strikeout rate (32.5%), hard-hit ball rate (28.6%) and grounder rate (56%).  While his walk rate had dropped below average, Bradish looked like he was continuing the front-of-the-rotation form that he displayed during his 2023 breakout season.

It could be that Bradish has again dodged a bullet if his elbow is simply sore, and some discomfort might’ve been inevitable given the circumstances behind his start to the season.  That said, the O’s have taken a conservative approach to Bradish’s deployment — he has received the traditional four days of rest between starts only once, and otherwise had five or more days of rest between all of his other starts.  Before yesterday, Bradish’s previous start was on June 8, so he had five full days to rest before taking on the Phillies.

Even if the tests come back clean, the Orioles might consider placing Bradish on the 15-day injured list anyway simply as a precautionary measure.  Baltimore has an off-day on Monday, but then enters a stretch of 13 games in as many days, so Bradish’s absence would further stretch a rotation that has already been thinned by injuries.  John Means (Tommy John surgery) and Tyler Wells (UCL surgery) have both been lost for the season, while Dean Kremer has been on the IL for about four weeks with a strained triceps.  Kremer is set to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Sunday, so he could be an option to return to the rotation in the next week or two.

Even amidst all of these injuries, the Orioles have still fielded one of the sport’s better rotations, and have even had enough depth to use a six-man rotation to help manage everyone’s innings.  If Bradish will miss time, Baltimore still has a starting five of Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Cole Irvin, Albert Suarez, and Cade Povich, plus some extra depth in the upper minors.  (The team added to that depth with its acquisition of Levi Stoudt two days ago.)

Of course, losing Bradish for even a short amount of time is a blow to a Baltimore team that is fighting the Yankees for first place in the AL East, and a longer-term injury will hamper the Orioles’ World Series aspirations.  The O’s were already expected to be looking for both rotation and bullpen help at the trade deadline, and a greater need for starters might result in more of prospect cost in deals.