Baltimore Orioles Announce Kyle Bradish as Starting Pitcher For Game 1 of ALDS

Kyle Bradish will make his first career postseason start as the Baltimore Orioles open up the ALDS at home against the Texas Rangers.

Right-handed pitcher Kyle Bradish will start for the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Texas Rangers, the team announced Friday.

Bradish leads all Orioles starters with a 2.83 ERA and a 3.82 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season. Bradish started 30 games in 2023, and Baltimore went 19-11 in those contests.

The 27-year-old opened the season as the Orioles' No. 4 starter, and he left his first appearance of the year just 1.2 innings in after taking a line drive off his right foot. That injury cause Bradish to miss two starts in April, and he wound up ending the month with a 6.14 ERA and 1.841 WHIP.

Bradish steadily improved over the course of the rest of the season – he posted a 2.76 ERA in May, a 3.54 ERA in June, a 2.25 ERA in July, a 2.12 ERA in August and a 2.06 ERA from September into early October.

During that stretch, the second-year righty became the Orioles' most reliable starter, even amid a crowd of other potentially dangerous arms.

Veteran Kyle Gibson was Baltimore's Opening Day starter, but he finished the regular season with a 4.73 ERA. Former All-Star John Means missed 17 months due to Tommy John surgery and didn't make his season debut until mid-September.

While top prospect Grayson Rodriguez put up a 2.17 ERA across his final nine starts, the rookie's season ERA was sitting at 6.09 as recently as Aug. 7. The Orioles even swung a deal for experienced St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline, only for the big-time acquisition to go 1-3 with a 7.11 ERA and get moved to the bullpen.

That left Bradish as the obvious Game 1 starter for manager Brandon Hyde, who led the Orioles to a 101-win season and AL East crown this year. Rodriguez, meanwhile, has been pegged as the Game 2 starter.

The series opener between Baltimore and Texas is scheduled for 1:03 p.m. ET on Saturday. Game 2 will get underway Sunday at 4:07 p.m. ET.

The Rangers, who swept the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card Series, are expected to pit right-hander Dane Dunning against Bradish on Saturday. Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi both had extended outings in the Wild Card round, while trade deadline acquisition Max Scherzer and offseason addition Jacob deGrom are both injured.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also subscribe to "The Payoff Pitch" podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.