Kyle Bradish rolls in first minor league rehab game (O's roll too)

BOWIE. Md. – Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish, who had not pitched in a game since the American League Division Series in October, took the mound beginning his minor league rehab assignment for Double-A Bowie against Altoona last night.

He said he would treat the rehab assignment like his spring training as he comes back from a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow that required a platelet-rich plasma injection.

Bradish’s “spring” is off to a great start.

He was dealing from his first pitch at Prince George’s Stadium. Touching 95 and 96 mph on the stadium radar gun, he allowed one line drive single and no runs in three scoreless innings. He walked no one and fanned four. He threw 44 pitches, 26 for strikes. He threw all of his pitches, getting strikeouts with three different offerings and got, by my count, 11 swinging strikes.

He looked in mid-season form.

Silas Ardoin, the O’s fourth-round selection in the 2022 MLB Draft, was Bradish's catcher and didn’t disagree with that assessment.

“Oh man, he’s got great stuff,” Ardoin said. “Everything is (moving) late, everything is sharp. It’s pretty awesome to be back there and to catch a pitcher like him.

“All the pitches were sharp, all were in the zone, and he could throw them for strikes whenever he wanted to.”

Bradish pitched a 1-2-3 first, getting two groundouts and a strikeout on a high heater, using 12 pitches. He threw 15 more in the second when he gave up a one-out single to shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng. He used 17 pitches in the third and fanned two more batters in a three up and out frame.

Rehabbing Orioles are not made available to reporters but both Bowie manager Roberto Mercado and pitching coach Austin Meine were impressed with what they saw.

“He pitched extremely well. Got his pitch count and got to it. Commanded the zone really well,” said Mercado. “Just the command and guys seeing the shapes (of his pitches). Some other pitchers were looking out from the dugout going, ‘Oh wow, that’s pretty impressive.’ Just his composure, how he carries himself and prepares. It’s different when a big leaguer shows up here. How he goes about his business. Always special when those guys come down.”

Said Meine: “Was good to see him go out there and attack the zone, work ahead of hitters. Felt good. A good day. Yeah, feels like he’s ready to continue moving through his rehab progression.”

It was a great first step in his comeback for Bradish, who went 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA in 30 starts for the Orioles in 2023.

“Our guys got to see how a big leaguer operates. It’s professional from the minute he shows up to the minute he leaves the ballpark,” said Meine.

It was a fun night for Ardoin, who said he could learn a lot catching Bradish. He had caught him before in spring training bullpens but never in any game. He said they met before the game and set the plan of attack.

“It was awesome,” said Ardoin, 23. “Always enjoyable to have rehab guys come and pitch. You get to learn a lot catching guys like that. Kyle was one of our better starters last year. To watch him go about his work, catch in the ‘pen and in the game was awesome.

“He did his thing. He attacked the zone with all four pitches. When he has all four pitches like that, good things happen.”

Basallo plays in the field, he homers, Baysox roll: Last night, O’s No. 2 ranked prospect Samuel Basallo, rated No. 11 in the top 100 by Baseball America, played the field for the first time this year. He was at first base for Bowie’s game with Altoona.

Basallo has been on a throwing progression for several weeks after he suffered a stress fracture in his right elbow in November. He will return to play catcher soon and this week will see some time at first and DH.

“He is progressing really well,” Mercado said before Tuesday’s game. “His arm is getting stronger. He’s ready to go. He’s been working on his throwing progression. Today in pregame he was behind the plate making some throws and things are looking good for him.”

Basallo, who produced an OPS of .953 at three levels last season, ending the year with a few games at Bowie, has gotten off to a slow hitting start this year. Heading into last night’s game he was 8-for-35, batting .229 with a .479 OPS.

But he had two hits in the series finale at Hartford Sunday and Mercado is not concerned how he is swinging it right now.

“He actually has seven or eight barrels right now and they are just not falling. Couple of hard-hit balls that were caught. Think he is being a bit too aggressive at times. Needs to be a little more selective I would say. He has such great contact skills and sometimes he has swung at that first pitch that is maybe not a pitch he can do damage with.

"But kid loves to work, and he’ll continue to grow and improve. It’s a new level. He was just here for a week last year. Not worried a bit about him. He has smoked some balls already. He’ll be fine.”

Mercado was right. Those were his pregame comments. Then Basallo went out and smoked a couple balls, going 2-for-5, which included his first Double-A homer as Bowie won 10-4.

TT Bowens and Dylan Beavers also homered, and Bowens had three hits. We wrote about infielder Frederick Bencosme here yesterday. Last night he went 2-for-5 with a two-run triple and three RBIs.  

O's rolled too: The Orioles offense is really starting to humm. They hit three more homers last night in an 11-3 win over Minnesota. They can sweep the series today and they are now 1/2 game out of first place. In the last eight games, the Orioles have scored 53 runs while batting .297 as a team with an .880 OPS. 

The Orioles (11-6) have won three in a row and six of their past eight.