Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz provided more context on Kyle Bradish's setback.
The Baltimore Orioles not only dropped their series over the weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays but lost one of their most reliable starting pitchers in the process.
Just before Sunday's game against Toronto, Baltimore revealed that right-hander Kyle Bradish would be heading to the 15-day injured list with lower abdominal discomfort, with Yaramil Hiraldo taking his spot on the active roster. Manager Craig Albernaz provided more context on the injury when speaking with reporters.
Albernaz said that Kyle Bradish "has been dealing with a lower abdominal strain" for a "little bit now," according to Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner.
The timing of Albernaz's comments is telling. Bradish clearly pushed through the issue for some time while the Orioles were still in the playoff hunt, but his last start Saturday against the Blue Jays made the decision unavoidable.
He lasted just three innings, throwing 56 pitches while allowing eight hits and five earned runs, one of the worst outings of his season. The Orioles had seen enough and the IL move followed the very next day.
For Bradish, this effectively ends his first full season since 2023. He made just 14 combined starts across 2024 and 2025 due to Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow.
He initially attempted to rest and recover from a partial tear in 2024 without surgery, but the discomfort returned and forced him under the knife, wiping out most of both seasons in the process.
Bradish has not returned to the Cy Young caliber arm he was before the surgery, but he has still been one of the more reliable starters in Baltimore's rotation this year. The Orioles rewarded him with a five-year, $90 million contract extension back in July that buys out three years of unrestricted free agency.
For a player who began the year with uncertainty surrounding his elbow, securing that kind of long-term commitment with the only franchise he has ever played in the big leagues with. On the year, the 30-year-old has posted a 4.12 ERA across 29 starts with 142 strikeouts across 155 innings of work.
Baltimore enters Monday with a 72-78 record and a four-game deficit behind the Cleveland Guardians with just 12 games remaining. They would need to be nearly perfect to earn the final AL wild card spot, and losing Bradish makes that already steep climb even steeper heading into the final two weeks.
