Baltimore Orioles Outfielder Expresses 'Concern' About Injured Ace

Although it looks like the Baltimore Orioles ace is only dealing with a sprained UCL right now, one of their outfielders seems concerned with the injury.

May 15, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kyle Bradish (38) is visited by catcher James McCann (27) in the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into this season, the Baltimore Orioles knew they needed to add an elite talent in their starting rotation who could become the ace of this staff to pair with their two young, emerging stars.

They were able to accomplish that, landing Corbin Burnes in a deal that is looking fantastic as he's an AL Cy Young candidate with a good chance of winning the award.

Unfortunately, outside of him, the Orioles have dealt with injuries to their rotation all year.

Kyle Bradish and John Means started the season on the injured list, with the former being diagnosed with a concerning UCL sprain where he was luckily able to avoid surgery. Means wasn't so lucky upon his return as he had to undergo another Tommy John surgery that will sideline him for the rest of 2024.

Tyler Wells just underwent UCL repair surgery of his own, and Grayson Rodriguez also has spent time on the IL this year.

As if that wasn't enough, Bradish is now back on the injured list with another UCL sprain, sparking major concerns he might not pitch again this season.

It sounds like Baltimore's outfielder Austin Hays shares those thoughts as Rock Kubatko of MASN reported the position player "expressed his concern" for the injured ace during their conversation, and even said he's going to "say a lot of prayers" in hopes of helping his teammate recover.

Every time a player goes down, it's always looked at in a baseball manner, however, for those inside the clubhouse, there is much more of a human element as someone they are close with is in pain and unable to produce in their profession.

It's understandable why Hays feels this way, but he likely wouldn't have had this type of reaction if he didn't feel like the injury could be serious.

Maybe that's looking into things way too much, but the fact of the matter remains that one UCL sprain is not good, let alone two like Bradish has suffered in a 3-4 month span.