Kyle Bradish on track to be even better in 2024 than he was during Orioles breakout

Coming off a tremendous 2023 season, you would have thought that Baltimore Orioles fans would have been excited to see what Kyle Bradish could do this season. However, the vast majority of the narrative around Bradish to start the season was actually negative, after it was revealed that the Orioles' star pitcher would begin the season on the IL with an elbow injury.

Fortunately, the Orioles were confident that Bradish wouldn't need surgery on his ailing arm, and after a bit of rehab, Baltimore was able to activate Bradish at the beginning of May. That, in itself, was a huge victory.

However, what few expected was that Bradish would not only immediately bounce back from his injury layoff, but actually somehow look even better in 2024 than he did last year.

Against the odds, the Orioles may actually get an even better version of Kyle Bradish in 2024

We are talking about a smaller sample of starts in 2024, but it is striking how good Bradish has looked this season, given that the guy was very close to having to go under the knife. When comparing his rate stats to what he put up in in 2023, it is actually downright nutty.

Aside from an increase in his walk rate this year (which isn't an insignificant thing), Bradish has been almost a completely different, far more dominant pitcher this season versus the guy that still made the top four in Cy Young voting last year. It would be one thing if his ERA was low, but the underlying numbers suggested that regression was coming. Bradish's counting stats have been great AND all of his peripherals point to his production being very real.

Of course, the baseball season is long, and we will have to see if Bradish can keep this up over 20+ starts before anointing him as the second coming of Jim Palmer. There is also his elbow to consider, as he did do some damage to his UCL that could serve as a ticking time bomb all year. Baltimore is going to have to manage Bradish carefully to ensure that it doesn't flare up and/or further deteriorate.

That said, those thinking that Corbin Burnes was going to be the Orioles' best starter in 2024 could be in trouble. While Burnes has been great since the day the Orioles traded for him, Bradish isn't going to give up his status as Baltimore's staff ace so easily after all.

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