Bradish: "Arm feels really good"

SARASOTA, Fla. – Kyle Bradish is throwing on flat ground and reported this morning that his surgically repaired right elbow is responding in a positive manner. He just can’t predict his return or look too far ahead.

The road traveled after a ligament-reconstructive procedure keeps him in the slow lane.

“Arm feels really good,” Bradish said this morning at his locker in his first interview since his final start on June 14. “No setbacks. Throwing program is going good.

“Right now I’m just focused on day-to-day throwing. Not really focused on mound or stuff like that.”

Bradish described his sessions as “standard catch.” No spin on the ball. Nothing that might tax the elbow.

A realistic goal for Bradish is to return after the All-Star break, but he can’t say how deep into the second half.

“Just hopefully at some point this year,” he said.

The Orioles announced Bradish’s surgery after he came out of his June 14 start against the Phillies. He lasted five innings and only 74 pitches.

The 2024 season consisted of only eight starts, the first on May 2, after Bradish received a platelet-rich plasma injection last January for a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. It was an attempt to avoid or maybe delay surgery.

“There was definitely some significant pain, but 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 waiting on the surgery, though it obviously pushed back his recovery and eventual return. He couldn’t just surrender without a fight.

“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 what extent it was, so I decided I could go out and pitch. 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 I didn't feel that bad at that moment.”

Tyler Wells also had Tommy John surgery, his second, and he’s working out with Bradish in Sarasota.

“It’s nice playing catch with him,” Bradish said. “We were both at our homes for the offseason, so we didn’t really do that stuff together, but just being able to throw with him right now is good.”

Bradish finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting in 2023 after posting a 2.83 ERA and 1.043 WHIP in 30 starts. He actually was better last season with a 2.75 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings, except his walks per nine innings jumped from 2.3 to 3.4.

“I have full confidence in myself that I’ll make a full recovery,” he said, “and be back out there like the pitcher I was in ’23 and last year before surgery.”

The detachment from his teammates was lessened a little by Bradish watching every game on television while rehabbing.

“It’s not like I really left it,” he said. “Just left the team for a little bit.”

The rotation lost Corbin Burnes and won’t have Bradish for the first half. Among the key additions to the club are 41-year-old starter Charlie Morton and Japanese right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano. The Orioles will get a full season out of deadline acquisition Zach Eflin and hope for the same with Grayson Rodriguez.

“I feel very confident in this rotation,” Bradish said. “Losing Burnes hurts just because of the caliber of pitcher he is, but the guys we brought in, the guys we have, kind of sets the rotation up even better.”

* Closer Félix Bautista threw his second bullpen session today. The mechanics and velocity are impressive.

Bautista is on a slower ramp up following his Tommy John surgery in October 2023, but the expectation remains that he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

* Sugano requested this morning that his first side session be moved back to Tuesday.

Sugano is fine. He’s just adjusting to the travel from Tokyo and wanted an extra day to recover.

* Orioles owner and control person David Rubenstein has arrived at camp and will speak later with the media.