Source: Bradish to make major league debut on Friday

NEW YORK – The Orioles are ready to spring Kyle Bradish on major league hitters.

Bradish, 25, will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and start Friday night against the Red Sox, according to a source.

The No. 9 prospect in the system per Baseball America had his start with the Tides bumped from yesterday to Friday, but he won’t stick around for it.

Bradish was acquired from the Angels with pitchers Isaac Mattson, Kyle Brnovich and Zach Peek in the Dylan Bundy trade in December 2019. He followed an impressive spring training by allowing only two earned runs and striking out 17 batters in 15 innings in his three starts with Norfolk.

The Orioles kept Bradish back at extended spring training before he joined the Tides. A gradual buildup of innings has led to his first assignment in the majors.

The upcoming start likely pushes Spenser Watkins to Saturday with an extra day's rest and Jordan Lyles to Sunday. Bradish will be working on two extra days.

John Means underwent Tommy John surgery this week and Chris Ellis is on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. The Orioles decided to start Bradish rather than selecting another Norfolk pitcher or going with a bullpen game.

A corresponding roster move will be made Friday. The Orioles haven’t announced Bradish’s promotion.

Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall should be following Bradish to Baltimore this summer. Bradish always figured to be ahead of them based on age and Triple-A experience. Hall starts Friday night at high Single-A Aberdeen.

The defense must be more dependable behind Bradish after committing five errors in a 10-5 loss to the Yankees. Six of the runs were unearned, their highest total since permitting eight on July 20, 2019 versus the Red Sox.

The Orioles hadn’t committed five errors at Yankee Stadium since the franchise was in St. Louis on June 8, 1952.

“We have to play solid defensively for us to have the chance to win, and today wasn’t our best day defensively,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Let down Zim, could have gotten him out of that inning, which we’ve done before. We didn’t play very good defense today and we have a tough time covering up for it offensively right now, too. Got to get better.

“A couple were kind of in-between plays. But we’ve got to be able to catch the ball for us to hang in games and have a chance to win, and can’t make five errors and expect to win.”

Zimmermann lowered his ERA to 0.93 with a changeup that’s developing into a plus pitch. He struck out five batters in 4 1/3 innings, but the four unearned runs stuck him with the loss.

“I thought Zim threw great,” Hyde said. “I thought he was outstanding once again. That’s a tough lineup to face, especially the second time, and not that many days apart. Good off-speed again, good fastball, he was really competitive. Should have gone deeper in the game.”

Zimmermann didn’t point any fingers afterward.

“I go out there and make pitches and the defense has played unbelievable behind me this entire year,” he said. “So, the (fifth) inning like that, I’ve got to make some better pitches. I (was) way ahead on two-strike counts and things like that, so I’ve got to do a better job of taking the bat out of the guy’s hands when I can. But other than that, just keep making pitches and those guys will pick me up like they normally do.

“That’s the mark of any good team is to be able to stop the bleeding as soon as possible, which we’ve been able to do, especially the bullpen being as lights out as they have been. But that’s baseball. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t.”

The Orioles scored three times in the ninth but stranded 13 runners and went 4-for-15 with RISP. They left the bases loaded in the fifth and the Yankees tallied four unearned runs in the bottom half.

“You’ve got to be solid defensively and you’ve got to be able to tack on runs, and we haven’t done that very well the last few years, either,” Hyde said. “And once we get a lead, to be able to continue to put pressure on by adding on runs and maybe see different guys in their bullpen than you would if it was a tight game.

“We had a couple situational hitting opportunities that we didn’t come through. Liked the way we swung the bat there at the end of the game, but we’ve got to do that in the beginning and middle part of the game to take some pressure off our pitching, as well as giving ourselves a better chance.”

Austin Hays had his first career four-hit game, including a career-best three doubles, and is slashing .362/.423/.617 (17-for-47) in his last 12 games.