Yay, it’s Bradish time! What a sight for sore eyes: after a year and two months, the most talented pitcher on this roster is back on the mound. It’s not enough to save the season, but it’ll be pretty nice watching the outlines of a real rotation come together. I missed him!
If you’ll recall, Bradish had an up-and-down rookie season in ‘22, struggling to a plus-7 ERA in May and June, but he posted a sub-4.00 mark every month thereafter. It was just a hint of what was to come in 2023, when he exploded with a 2.83 ERA over 30 starts and finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting. Bradish’s 2024 season was a mix of brilliant and sad. It started ominously, with a trip to the 15-day IL for a UCL sprain, but then he put together three superb months—a 2.75 ERA with opponents hitting .188 in April, May and June. Sadly, the elbow started barking again and it turned out to be the worst-case scenario, with fans learning over the summer that their ace righty would be out for over a year with Tommy John.
Whatever Bradish’s health right now, it’ll be damn good to see him out there. The pressure on him isn’t high, given the hole the team has played itself into. As CC’s Mark Brown said, all he has to do is get healthy and stay there for next year. Anyway, back to the task at hand: Bradish has seen a few of these Red Sox hitters before: Jarren Durran is 2-for-5 against him, Nathaniel Lowe 1-for-7, and Trevor Story 0-for-10.
The one thing Bradish can’t do for this Orioles team is get men on base though. There the position players will have to help themselves. They’ll take their swings against Lucas Giolito (8-2, 3.72 ERA) who’s having a strong comeback season after missing all of 2024 with Tommy John surgery himself. Although the righty showed some early rust – posting a 6.42 ERA in his first seven starts – he’s been sub-four in every month since. On May 24, he shut out this team over seven innings.