Bradish spoke up on what has been killing his outings.
The Baltimore Orioles lost the rubber game to the Boston Red Sox 5-3 on Sunday, dropping to 13-15 on the year.
Kyle Bradish took the loss after giving up three earned runs on four hits across five innings while walking four.
He threw 88 pitches, and while none of those walks came around to score, they drove his pitch count up and forced him out of a game the Orioles needed.
Afterward, Bradish did not sugarcoat what has been eating at him all month.
"I just need to be more competitive in the zone and the walks will come down," Bradish said. "Some of the walks aren't the worst thing in the world. Like today, they weren't scoring, but just overall in the first six [starts], the walks are way too high."
A Bumpy Return
The walks have been a theme since Opening Day.
Bradish has issued roughly 17 free passes through six starts in 2026, and his WHIP sat at 1.76 entering Sunday.
The ERA, which had dropped to 3.96 after a solid outing in Kansas City where he threw a season-high 104 pitches, climbed back above 4.00 with Sunday's loss.
His record now sits at 1-3, and the consistency Baltimore expected from its former ace has not shown up yet.
There have been moments where Bradish looked close.
His start against the Royals last Monday was arguably his best of the season, giving up one run over 5.1 innings and striking out seven.
But that came after a stretch where he had a 5.49 ERA through four starts, including a four-run disaster in Pittsburgh where he could not get out of the second inning.
The peaks and valleys have been wide, and Baltimore cannot afford that from the guy it needs anchoring the rotation.
Why Baltimore Needs More
When the Orioles built out this pitching staff over the winter, Bradish was the centerpiece.
The front office got Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt and brought back Zach Eflin, but all of that was supposed to work around Bradish being the number one or two guy.
In 2023, he was an ace with a 2.83 ERA and 168 strikeouts over 30 starts before Tommy John surgery cut his 2024 short.
He came back late in 2025 and posted a 2.53 ERA over six starts that gave everyone confidence he was all the way back.
The stuff is still there. His sinker has touched career-high velocity and the strikeout rate has been fine when he stays in the zone.
But the command has been off and on, and manager Craig Albernaz pointed to that after Sunday, noting Bradish was behind too many hitters.
For a team sitting two games under .500 with the Yankees and Astros on deck, the margin for error is thin.
Bradish's ability is right there, but the execution just has not caught up.