The grounds crew had a busy morning at Camden Yards on Saturday.
After getting the field ready after a rainy Friday, they also had to tend to the Orioles’ bullpen in left-center field after it got plenty of action from Baltimore’s injured pitchers.
Kyle Bradish, Andrew Kittredge and Grayson Rodriguez all threw bullpen sessions Saturday, manager Brandon Hyde said before the Orioles’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The news for Bradish serves as the biggest step in his recovery from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. While the team has been reluctant to put a timeline on their former No. 1 starter, Bradish throwing his first bullpen session in mid-April is positive news for the possibility of him returning to the rotation in the summer.
Bradish said during spring training that he pitched with elbow pain through the second half of the 2023 season and his eight starts in 2024. In January, when he discovered his ulnar collateral ligament had a partial tear, Bradish and the team elected to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow to help expedite his recovery rather than go under the knife — a decision Bradish said this spring was the right one for him.
The recovery from Tommy John surgery is normally between 14 and 16 months. If Bradish is on the earlier end of that timeline, he could return in July, while a setback or slower recovery could delay that to August or September.
Baltimore’s rotation has been one of the majors’ worst this season with Corbin Burnes gone to Arizona and Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Bradish and others on the injured list. But if Bradish can return later this year and be the pitcher he was in 2023 when he posted a 2.86 ERA and finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting, it would provide a major boost to Baltimore’s rotation.
“I have full confidence in myself that I’ll make a full recovery and be back out there like the pitcher I was in ’23 and last year before surgery,” he said.
Kittredge throwing a bullpen is also a pivotal step in his recovery. The right-handed reliever signed for $10 million this offseason, but a nagging cartilage growth in his left knee derailed the beginning of his season. Kittredge underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee in March, and he said the timetable for his return was between June and the All-Star break.
Hyde said Kittredge is “way ahead of schedule,” but the Orioles aren’t going to rush back a pitcher who could make a big difference in their bullpen when he’s healthy.
“With the knee, it’s just going to take a while,” Hyde said. “He feels really good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He’s really excited right now, he just threw his first side.”
Rodriguez’s bullpen is the latest in a series of sessions as the right-hander makes his way back from elbow/triceps inflammation that shut him down during spring training. The team hasn’t provided a timeline on Rodriguez’s return, but he’s still at least a few weeks away.
This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.
