Orioles place Bradish on injured list with sprained right ulnar collateral ligament, tests to continue

BALTIMORE—A day after he left Friday night’s Orioles-Phillies game after five innings, starting pitcher Kyle Bradish was placed on the 15-day injured list with a sprain of the right ulnar collateral ligament, the same injury that delayed the start of his season.

“He’s still going to get tested on and see other doctors,” manager Brandon Hyde said before Saturday’s Orioles-Phillies game. “It’s just the next day. We’re not jumping to any conclusions. We’re going to go see other doctors and see what happens.”

Bradish is 2-0 with a 2.75 earned-run aveage in eight starts. Two of them were outstanding. On May 26^th, he threw seven hitless innings against the Chicago White Sox. On June 8^th, he gave up one hit in six scoreless innings against Tampa Bay. On Friday night, he allowed two runs on three hits in five innings, throwing 74 pitches before telling Hyde that his elbow was bothering him.

The Orioles have already lost John Means and Tyler Wells to season-ending elbow injuries. Left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe is also on the 15-day injured list with an elbow injury. Starter Dean Kremer, who is on the injured list with a right triceps strain, will throw a rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday.

“It’s difficult. It’s part of the game,” Hyde said. “We’ve had our share so far this year. We have to rely on our depth. Hopefully, they’ll continue to throw the ball well. We’ve had a really good year on the mound. Positive that can continue.

“It stinks for Kyle. We’ll see what happens, but we need guys to step up.”

Hyde said after the game that Bradish alerted him that his elbow was bothering him, but he didn’t specify what the concern was.

“His elbow was bothering him last night,” Hyde said. “He came off the mound in the fifth. He’s being checked out today and the next couple of days.”

The Orioles will return to a five-man rotation, and though they haven’t announced their starters for the three-game series at Yankee Stadium that begins Tuesday, Albert Suárez, Cade Povich and Cole Irvin are in line to start.

“That’s what we’re going to need,” Hyde said. “These guys have done a great job so far and we’re going to need innings out of our rotation, hoping to fill Kyle’s void as best as we possibly can, but it’s a big loss.”

The Orioles had been one of the healthiest teams in baseball in 2022 and 2023, but in spring training executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias revealed that Means and Bradish were injured. The injuries have continued.

“We’ve gotten real fortunate the last couple of years,” Hyde said. “This year, we’ve had our share so far. It’s part of the game. A lot of teams are dealing with it. We’ll do our best to have the next guy step up.”

To take the place of Bradish on the 26-man roster, left-handed reliever Nick Vespi was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk, giving the Orioles an eight-man bullpen again.

“It’s really hard with a six-man rotation,” Hyde said. “We’ve done as well as we possibly could have done in that time. To have an eighth reliever is important right now.”

Hyde isn’t saying what will happen with the rotation when Kremer returns.

“We’ll see what happens when Dean comes back,” Hyde said. “Right now, we’ve got five.

“This just happened last night. I have no idea when Dean is going to be here and we’ve got three guys lined up for the Yankees, and we’ll go from there.”