CHICAGO -- The first time Kyle Bradish faced the White Sox was on the road in late May 2024, when he turned in one of the best performances of his career: Seven scoreless no-hit innings and 11 strikeouts (tying his career high).
Almost 16 months later, Bradish returned to Rate Field on Monday to face Chicago for a second time. And though he didn’t quite dominate the Sox the way he did in ‘24, he still put together a strong performance in the Orioles’ 4-1 victory.
The 29-year-old right-hander limited Chicago to one run over five innings. He allowed four hits and permitted four free passes, but he also struck out nine hitters for the 10th time in his 65 Major League starts.
Bradish featured plenty of swing-and-miss stuff early on. He punched out seven White Sox batters in the first three innings alone, with six of those ending on a whiff. After not recording a strikeout in the bottom of the fourth, he rebounded with two more in the fifth, which helped strand a runner in scoring position after Bradish gave up a leadoff double. He ultimately produced 17 whiffs on 39 swings -- a 43.6 percent whiff rate, the third-highest single-game rate of his career.
“That's Kyle Bradish. That's just kind of what he does,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “We know we're getting that when he goes out there.”
“I think the fastball was playing up really good today,” Bradish said. "I think early on, threw some breaking balls down in the zone that they laid off or put a good swing on, so kind of went to the fastball up and was able to get above the bat.”
Baltimore backed him up with a three-run top of the sixth. With two outs and the bases empty, Coby Mayo walked and Samuel Basallo singled. Colton Cowser then stepped to the plate and got ahold of a sinker away, driving it over the left-center-field bleachers to plate the game-deciding runs.
“First of all, we won, so I'm happy about that,” Bradish said. “It was kind of frustrating, just coming out the gates good, and then I walked four guys, kind of lost command through that third inning. But overall, kept the team in it, limited damage and we won, so all is good.”
Bradish has room for improvement coming out of his outing. For example, his four walks match a total he’d reached only seven times before (four coming in his ‘22 debut season).
Mansolino noted that “the first batter of each inning gave him fits tonight.” He walked the leadoff batter three times (the latter two on four pitches) and also gave up a double. Mansolino called it “strange” and guessed it “probably became a mental thing” during the outing.
“It happens,” Mansolino said of the first-batter struggles, “but the stuff was sharp. He was good. Just sprayed the ball just a little bit, more so than he did in his outing against Pittsburgh [last Tuesday].”
Again, Bradish wasn’t as dominant Monday as he was his first time facing Chicago last season. But that outing also preceded 14 months away from big league action.
Less than a month later, he underwent Tommy John surgery. The year before, he finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting, and he was on track to potentially post even better numbers in 2024 before his season was cut short.
The Orioles have missed him in 2025, as the injury bug has bitten the team plenty. But since making his return to the mound on Aug. 26, Bradish has shown he can still reach his pre-Tommy John form.
With his five innings of one-run ball, he now has a 2.45 ERA in four starts, and he’s recorded a 34.9 percent strikeout rate. Despite still shaking off a bit of rust after such an extended absence, he’s displayed that ace-type potential.
As far as what he wants to accomplish before the season ends, Bradish said he’s still working on consistent command and pitching deeper into games.
He likely only has two more starts left, and it remains to be seen how much he can improve in those areas with limited time. But at the end of the day, what matters is he’s back and pitching well, with an opportunity to go into the offseason on a strong note.
“I feel good, feel healthy,” Bradish said. “Obviously, still working through a lot of things, but we're battling through that, and that's a part of coming off a long-term injury.”