Bradish (10 K's) brilliant in 1st start since 2024 Tommy John surgery

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles’ clubhouse was buzzing on Tuesday afternoon. The room was filled with more cameras, microphones and media members than on a typical late-August day.

It was return day for Kyle Bradish, who sat at his locker in the corner away from it all, though periodically with a smile on his face. At one point, the 28-year-old had a brief conversation with pitching coach Drew French, who was wearing his “Breaking Bradish” shirt -- a piece of merchandise from Baltimore’s Mobtown Brewing Company.

Everybody was excited. It didn’t take long to remember why.

In Bradish’s first MLB start in 438 days, he racked up 10 strikeouts over six quality innings during the O's 5-0 loss to the Red Sox at Camden Yards. It was the right-hander’s first big league outing since June 14, 2024, as he underwent Tommy John surgery later that month.

About 90 minutes before the 6:35 p.m. ET first pitch, Bradish followed his customary prestart routine by coming onto the field to check the weather. This time, though, he popped in some earbuds, listened to music and reflected on his journey, which included six rehab starts over the previous five weeks.

“There were definitely a lot of emotions just throughout the whole day,” Bradish said. “A lot of nerves as the game got closer and just looking back at the journey that I’ve been on for the past 14 months to get back to where I am here. So it was just a lot, and I just really tried to manage that.”

But once Bradish ran onto the field, hopped over the first-base line and gave his trademark punch to the inside of his glove -- a bit more emphatically than he normally would -- he immediately flashed impressive stuff. He worked a 1-2-3 first inning on 13 pitches (eight strikes), collecting two strikeouts and hitting 97-plus mph four times. (His max velocity was 97.8.)

Bradish allowed two earned runs on four hits without issuing a walk during the 81-pitch outing. Boston’s runs came on a pair of first-pitch leadoff homers -- Trevor Story went deep to open the second, then David Hamilton did the same in the third.

A two-blemish performance was certainly not a bad way to come back for Bradish, who already looked like the pitcher who finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2023, then fared even better over eight starts early in ‘24.

“Just watching the warmup pitches, I told Frenchie, I was like, ‘That looks different. We haven’t seen stuff like that out of the rotation all year,’” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Now, we’ve got guys with good stuff, but Bradish, we’ve talked about him. This is the type of guy that, if he stays healthy, it’s ace-type stuff, it’s ace-type pitchability. It’s absolutely an ace mentality.”

It was the fifth time in Bradish’s 62-start MLB tenure he has recorded 10-plus strikeouts, as he finished one shy of his career high. He induced 15 whiffs, per Statcast -- five with his slider, five by curveball, three by sinker and two by four-seam fastball.

Alex Jackson had never worked with Bradish, but the 29-year-old catcher faced him before, going 0-for-2 with two strikeouts for the Rays against the righty on June 8, 2024 -- a game in which Bradish allowed only one hit and had nine strikeouts in six scoreless innings.

Fair to assume Jackson had more fun catching Bradish?

“No doubt,” Jackson said. “I definitely enjoyed being on this side rather than having to face him in the box, because he’s one of the best pitchers in the game for a reason, and his stuff is absolutely electric. This is his first outing out; it’s only going to be up from here.”

The Red Sox were impressed with what they saw, too.

“His stuff looked really good,” said right-hander Lucas Giolito, who tossed eight dominant innings of his own. “To come out with really good swing-and-miss stuff and high velocity, you could tell right away he was pretty amped. It's good to have good pitchers in the league.”

Added Boston manager Alex Cora: “One of the best we’ve faced this year.”

The Orioles (60-72) have missed Bradish during their disappointing, injury-plagued season, as their 4.74 rotation ERA entering Tuesday ranked 25th in MLB. But he’ll be on the staff the rest of the way, as Bradish tries to build positive momentum down the stretch before trying to help Baltimore return to contention in 2026.

For Bradish, there was never doubt he’d get through the 14-month recovery and return to the form he showed again Tuesday night.

“Throughout the whole process, I really felt confident that I would get back to where I was last year and the year before,” Bradish said. “And I think I kind of proved that today."