Road to the Show: Kyle Bradish goes from trade acquisition to Orioles’ rotation
2022 will be a season in which many of the most significant products of the Orioles’ rebuilding project will arrive in Baltimore, where they’ll hope to add to the stories already told between being acquired and reaching the majors.
That’s the case for right-hander Kyle Bradish, Baltimore’s No. 9 prospect according to Baseball America.
Promoted to the majors for the first time Friday — with infielder Tyler Nevin also recalled as right-hander Mike Baumann was optioned and left-hander Alex Wells was placed on the injured list with elbow soreness — Bradish will start against the Boston Red Sox and is the most significant prospect acquired under executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias to join the Orioles.
Here’s a look back at Bradish’s journey in the organization, as told by The Baltimore Sun, since he was acquired in December 2019′s Dylan Bundy trade.
The Los Angeles Angels drafted Bradish in 2018′s fourth round then included him as one of four right-handers they sent to the Orioles for Bundy, a former top-five draft pick. Bradish was the highest draftee of that foursome, which also included Isaac Mattson, Kyle Brnovich and Zach Peek, and thus was considered the top prospect in the deal.
“Bradish in particular is somebody that I have liked dating back to the 2018 draft,” Elias said then. “He went out and straight into the Cal League, which is a nasty place to pitch, and pitched over 100 innings, struck out over 120 hitters coming from a small conference, from the WAC Conference in New Mexico State, and was one of the better pitchers in the California League last year over a very long body of work. Made the All-Star team. He’s got a very unique delivery, which can create some strong opinions about him one way or another. But he’s got four real pitches, all of which will show above-average at times, and he strikes out a lot of hitters. There’s a lot of things to like there.”
2020′s canceled minor league season meant Bradish spent his first season in Baltimore’s system in Bowie not with their affiliate but at their alternate training site. There, he established himself as one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, on a level beneath only former first-round picks Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall.
On the cusp of the 2021 season, he was ready to show that all the Orioles’ internal belief that built up around him was worth having.
Bradish got off to a terrific start with Double-A Bowie. In three scoreless starts, he struck out 26 batters in 13 2/3 innings and allowed less than a baserunner per inning to earn a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk. He struggled there initially, but he finished well, going at five innings in each of his September starts with a cumulative 1.80 ERA.
The performance made him one of six players Baltimore added to their 40-man roster on the cusp of the Major League Baseball lockout, protecting him from being available in a Rule 5 draft that ended up not happening.
A statistical dive into Bradish’s first season in the system showed a clear yet obvious pattern: When he threw strikes, he was brilliant.
In his 15 appearances with a called strike-whiff percentage above last year’s major league average, he had a 1.70 ERA, compared to a 10.62 ERA in his other seven starts. Going by simple strike percentage, he posted a 2.39 ERA in the top half of his outings by that measure, whereas his mark was more than doubled — 5.18 — in the other 11.
In spring training, Bradish got the chance to start a road night game against the New York Yankees, facing a lineup full of their regulars. With a fastball that averaged about 96 mph and got up to 97.5 mph, he threw two scoreless innings, holding New York hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position while his slider generated three whiffs on four swings.
Afterward, he spoke like someone who planned to face the Yankees again soon.
“They’re in the division, so getting an early look at them is always nice,” Bradish said. “But I attack guys no matter who they are.”
In his only other spring training outing, he again pitched two shutout frames, doing so against many of the Philadelphia Phillies’ major league starters. After the game, he was in a group of players optioned to the minors, with the club feeling he needed more time at Triple-A Norfolk before joining them in the majors.
After initially staying in Florida to continue stretching out, Bradish returned to Norfolk and built on his success from the end of the prior season. Over three starts, he pitched progressively deeper, allowing two earned runs with 17 strikeouts in 15 innings.
He showed enough for the Orioles to promote him to start a homestand-opening matchup with the Red Sox. He’s the third prospect acquired under Elias to reach the majors, joining Mattson and Nevin.
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