Orioles pregame notes on rotation, Suárez, Bradish, Hays and more

The Orioles set their rotation for the series against the Reds in Cincinnati. Albert Suárez isn’t in it.

Cole Irvin starts Friday night and John Means makes his 2024 debut the following night. Dean Kremer gets the ball Sunday afternoon.

Suárez moves to the bullpen. He’s listed today among the relievers after posting a 2.35 ERA in three starts.

“It’s up for grabs right now, so kind of a wait and see,” said manager Brandon Hyde said of Suárez’s role. “I’m interested to see what it looks like in different ways. But he’s also a starter candidate for us if we maybe go with a six-man down the road. All different types of roles. So right now he’s kind of a wild card for us in our bullpen.”

Kyle Bradish is starting this afternoon after his reinstatement from the 15-day injured list. There’s a sense of relief in the organization following his January diagnosis of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament.

The mind can go to a bad place.

“Especially with the state of pitching today. You feel nervous almost every time guys take the mound right now,” Hyde said.

“We feel great about the progress that Kyle’s made and how he’s feeling and all the boxes he’s checked and how the rehab went. I know he’s excited to be out there today and it’s going to be fun watching him pitch.”

The club is watching Bradish differently today and at least in the immediate future based on his injury.

“We’re definitely going to be monitoring closely,” Hyde said. “Any time a guy misses a significant amount of time and has his first start back. The adrenaline level and everything’s different at the big league level. It doesn’t matter how many minor league rehab starts you made. This is a little bit different and so we’re always just going to be watching him closely.”

Bradish has a 16-inning scoreless streak dating back to the 2023 regular season.

The Orioles are adding Bradish and Means to a rotation that ranks sixth in the American League with a 3.58 ERA and to a pitching staff that’s seventh at 3.62.

“Really happy with how we’re throwing the ball,” Hyde said. “There’s going to be periods this whole season where there’s going to be guys down. The depth that Suárez gave us, with seven guys kind of picking up the pieces of starts for us right now, we’ve done a really good job of keeping us in games and helping us win games. I feel really good about it.”

Outfielder Austin Hays ran sprints on the basepaths this morning and took live batting practice on the field. He’s been on the injured list since April 22 with a strained left calf muscle.

“He looked good,” Hyde said. “Ran well, took outside BP. Hopefully he can start doing some minor league games here pretty soon.”

Tyler Wells is on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. He played catch yesterday.

"He's still going through some more tests," Hyde said. "As of right now there's nothing to really report."

Craig Kimbrel warmed last night and is available to close this afternoon.

Steve Melewski is handling game coverage.