Kyle Bradish Is Showing He’s One of MLB’s Best When Healthy

These kinds of performances are just a piece of Bradish’s best asset: consistency. His name should be Kyle Band-Aid the way the bleeding stops with him.

In those 30 starts back in 2023, Bradish surrendered four or more runs in a start just four times. In the second half of the season, when the Orioles were racing for the number one seed, Bradish gave up just 23 runs in 16 starts, or 1.4 runs per start.

The O’s dug their own graves in the early part of the season. At the end of May, the Orioles had a 21-36 record, 15 games under .500 not even a third of the way into the season.

That kind of consistency is exactly what the Orioles were missing in the early part of the season. Instead of bad starts compounding on one another, Bradish could have flipped the negative momentum and helped the team rebound.

With a team that is so young, there are bound to be highs and lows. Having an arm like Bradish is crucial to steady the ship over the course of 162 games.

Tales With the IL

While the consistency Bradish has shown is a great quality, it only has value if he is able to stay on the field. 

Bradish’s professional career started off rough in terms of injuries. In 2018, the year the Angels drafted him, Bradish only lasted 10 days with the Arizona League team before landing on the 60-day IL.

Since returning from that stint on Sep 9, 2018, Bradish only went on the IL once throughout the rest of his minor league career. He never went on the IL while in the O’s minor league system.

However, since making his debut in 2022, the 29-year-old has landed on the IL five times. These injuries include right shoulder inflammation, a UCL sprain and repair as well as a foot contusion from taking a liner off of his leg.

Thankfully, Bradish finished the 2025 season healthy. If he has a healthy offseason, it would be his first offseason without an injury since before the 2022 season.

With a general manager and head coach search looming this offseason, as well as a free agency that will be watched very closely by O’s fans, making sure the team stays healthy through the offseason, especially Bradish, is crucial for the Orioles chances in 2026.

The 2026 Outlook

The 2026 Orioles rotation is going to have a much different look compared to 2025. With Tomoyuki Sugano and Zach Eflin hitting the free agency market, there will be some holes to fill.

On a positive note, the O’s are adding four arms to the rotation who missed the 2025 Opening Day rotation because of injury in Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Grayson Rodriguez and Tyler Wells.

It will also be interesting to see if the O’s will add to the rotation using the free agency market or making a trade like they did for Corbin Burnes.

With so many questions and possibilities floating around the team in the coming offseason, the team will be in need of a rock. Having Bradish ready to take his spot back at the top of the rotation will put many Orioles fans’ minds at ease after dealing with so much uncertainty earlier this year.