Second inning, quiet offense spoil Bradish’s debut in loss
Kyle Bradish skipped over the first base line and gave his glove a hard smack. The excitement of making his major league debut seeped out, moments before he took the Camden Yards mound for the first time.
Any sign of nerves, though, did not show Friday night against the Boston Red Sox, as Bradish became the fourth Oriole in the past decade to begin his career by completing six innings, with five of those being scoreless. But the exception, a three-run second, paired with a nearly silent lineup sent Baltimore to its fifth straight defeat, 3-1, in front of an announced crowd of 15,685 — with Bradish’s wife, their parents, three uncles and some family friends among them. He described the day as “everything I imagined and then some.”
“I always get nervous when I start, but today was a little extra,” Bradish said. “Walking in through the bullpen, that’s kind of when it really hit me.”
Ranked as the Orioles’ No. 9 prospect by Baseball America, Bradish had never been to Camden Yards, “wandering the halls all day” before his start. One of four minor league right-handers acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in a December 2019 trade for Dylan Bundy, Bradish, 25, became the most significant product of the Orioles’ rebuild to reach Baltimore. He joined reliever Isaac Mattson, also part of the Bundy deal, and infielder Tyler Nevin, recalled Friday along with him, as the only prospects drafted or traded for by executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias to make their major league debuts with the Orioles (6-14).
Bradish trails only former first-round picks Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall
among pitchers in the system. Although Bradish’s debut ended in defeat, the day carried significance for an Orioles team expecting many more first-time major leaguers over the next 142 games, including Rodriguez, Hall and top prospect Adley Rutschman.
“I think it’s important that we’re getting homegrown guys here and guys that either Mike’s acquired or drafted here in the last few years,” manager Brandon Hyde said before the game. “It’s fun to have these guys come up.”
Bradish opened his night inauspiciously. He got Red Sox leadoff man Trevor Story to swing through two 87 mph sliders, but the latter got past catcher Robinson Chirinos on strike three, allowing Story to reach base as Bradish became the first major league starter since 1998 to open his debut with a strikeout but a runner safe at first. He continued the frame undisturbed, following with a double play, then another groundout after a walk.
A looping single that narrowly evaded center fielder Cedric Mullins’ sliding attempt began the second, and two batters later, Christian Arroyo homered to the bullpens in left-center field, an area unchanged after the Orioles altered Camden Yards’ field dimensions ahead of the ballpark’s 30th anniversary season by moving back the left field wall. The Red Sox followed with two more singles, the first staying in the infield and the second getting past right fielder Trey Mancini, allowing an unearned run to score.
Bradish then retired 13 of the final 14 Boston batters he faced, including the final 10. He finished six innings on 81 pitches, a hair below the threshold Hyde set before the game. Nine of those resulted in swings and misses, with three each on his slider and changeup. His fastball averaged about 94 mph and got above 97.
“They were just really aggressive on his fastball early in the game, and then I just thought he threw some really good breaking balls,” Hyde said. “I think he got a little bit more unpredictable after that second inning.”