The Baltimore Orioles are planning on Kyle Bradish -- who finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting last season -- rejoining the rotation this week and also activated left-handed All-Star John Means from the injured list Wednesday. The two doses of good news came with a shot of bad, though. Outstanding young right-hander Grayson Rodríguez was placed on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.
Rodríguez, 24, is 4-1 with a 3.71 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 34 innings this season. He's mostly been great this season, with one outing (4.1 IP, 11 H, 7 ER) against the Angels ruining his ERA and WHIP. He has allowed only seven combined runs in his other five outings. It is a big blow to the rotation and the shoulder injury is concerning moving forward, too.
The returns of Bradish and Means will help alleviate concerns in the short term. Means had to be activated Wednesday, as his rehab assignment had expired. The Orioles have open spots in their rotation Thursday and Friday, presumably with this duo taking both.
Means, a 31-year-old lefty, suffered a forearm injury this spring and the Orioles slow-played his return, given that he had Tommy John surgery in 2022. He returned last season for four starts and had a 2.66 ERA and 0.72 WHIP in 23 2/3 innings. He was an All-Star in 2019 and posted 3.6 WAR in 2021, his most recent full season. Means was knocked around in his rehab starts (8.68 ERA, 1.55 WHIP), but threw seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball last time out, striking out eight. He threw 95 pitches, so he's totally stretched out.
Bradish, 27, was 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA (144 ERA+), 1.04 WHIP and 168 strikeouts in 168 2/3 innings last season. He dealt with an elbow injury early in spring training and there were initial concerns it would be pretty serious, but the Orioles never strayed and insisted he'd be back at some point in the first two months of the season. It appears he'll be ready to take the mound Thursday after completing his rehab assignment.
In his three rehab starts, Bradish gave up five runs on 12 hits in 11 1/3 innings, striking out 14. In his last outing for Triple-A Norfolk, he gave up one run on five hits in five innings while striking out six. He threw 77 pitches.
After the musical chairs of getting two back and seeing Rodríguez hit the IL, the Orioles' rotation now has ace Corbin Burnes followed by Bradish and Means. Then there are two remaining spots for Albert Suárez, Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin, unless the Orioles decide to go to a six-man rotation.
The Orioles enter play Wednesday at 19-10, good for first in the AL East by one game over the Yankees.
