The Orioles will promote right-hander Kyle Bradish, their most major league-ready pitching prospect, to start Friday against the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards, two sources with direct knowledge of the team’s plans confirmed to The Baltimore Sun.
Bradish, 25, was one of four right-handed pitching prospects Baltimore acquired in December 2019 when it traded former first-round draft pick Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels and has long been considered the top arm in that quartet. In his past seven starts at Triple-A Norfolk, a span that began last September, Bradish has allowed four earned runs in 35 innings — a 1.03 ERA — with 41 strikeouts against nine walks and one home run allowed.
Bradish, Baltimore’s No. 9 prospect according to Baseball America, will be the second Oriole to debut this season, joining reliever Félix Bautista. He takes the rotation spot of Chris Ellis, who made only two starts in place of ace John Means (Tommy John surgery) before landing on the injured list himself with right shoulder inflammation.
Among the Orioles’ pitching prospects, he trails only Grayson Rodriguez — the game’s top minor league arm — and dynamic left-hander DL Hall. But he beat both of them majors, having spent most of 2021 at Triple-A, while Rodriguez is getting his first taste of that level this spring and Hall is working his way back from an elbow injury suffered last year with Double-A Bowie.
In spring training, Bradish showcased his preparedness for the majors, throwing a pair of scoreless two-inning appearances opposite lineups of New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies regulars. Between those outings, his fastball, coming from an over-the-top release point, got up to 97.5 mph, according to Statcast, and averaged about 96 mph. Five of the eight swings taken against his upper-80s slider were whiffs.
He briefly stayed in Florida as the minor league season began to continue stretching out, making his 2022 debut a week into the Triple-A season. He pitched progressively deeper in each of his three starts with Norfolk this year, throwing 87 pitches in six innings on Friday. Speculation about a potential call-up increased Wednesday, when he was listed as the Tides’ starter but instead had his outing pushed to Friday, the first time he was scheduled to pitch on more than four days’ rest.
Half of the Orioles’ return for Bundy has now reached the major leagues. Bradish, the Angels’ fourth-round pick in 2018 out of New Mexico State University, follows reliever Isaac Mattson, a 26-year-old who made his debut in 2021 but since has been removed from Baltimore’s 40-man roster. He was sharing Norfolk’s rotation with Kyle Brnovich, 24, before Brnovich went on the injured list with a right elbow sprain. Zach Peek, 23, has a 3.84 ERA across three levels of Baltimore’s system over the past two seasons, beginning this year at Double-A.
MASNsports.com was the first to report Bradish’s promotion.
Baltimore Sun reporter Andy Kostka contributed to this article.
