Kyle Bradish 2022

[ArtVanDelay]

1 hour ago, Finisher said:

Who was even negative in this thread other than emmett in response to Bradish's post game interview? Weird post by Lurker. I'm guessing that's Kyle's friend or family member. Reminds me of the player's mom who used to post here and berate anyone who was remotely negative about him (pitcher who flamed out with the Angels, forget this name).

Parker Bridwell?

[Tony-OH]

17 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm not defending any of the comments. 

I would just rather if someone is acting like they are quoting someone, for it to be accurate.

Well and if I can't curse I don't anyone else to either. 

I've not said much about Bradish one way or the other.  It's been real promising so far but it's only been a few games.

If that was my comment about Bradish he's referring to in the game thread, it was just a figure of speech. Bradish got a huge lead and came out and imploded in that start. He wasn't able to stop the bleeding and the game sped up on him. I've seen it happen to many, many pitchers in the minors and sometimes at the major league level.

Whether his arm got cold (lol) or whatever he claimed doesn't matter, he lost his focus and it showed. That should not happen after as many starts as he's had in the minor leagues (I doubt that the first long inning he's ever sat through).

That's what made this start so good to see. The same thing looked like it could happen (though not a long delay), but what did he do this time, he focused, kept calm, and then struck out the side. That showed me something and that's a good thing. It's doesn't mean what happened in his last start didn't, it just means this time he was able to stay focused.

 

 

[Frobby]

4 hours ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

 

Stallings is having a good year in AA currently.

2-2 in 5 GS (24.0 IP), 2.63 ERA, 23 K, 0.75 WHIP so far

Yes, but he wasn’t in the Bundy deal.  The fourth piece was Mattson.  Stallings was in the Iglesias deal, with Pinto.  

[Tony-OH]

7 minutes ago, interloper said:

I would say 7 innings and 11 Ks against one of the better teams in the NL would indicate that, yes. 

Jump to conclusions much? Claiming victory after three starts? Let's wait and see. It was a great start and he showed well. Players do develop and nobody should have "given up" on his being a starter. Just because I've said that he has some yellow flags that make him have a reliever risk doesn't mean you don't try him as a starter and see how he goes.

As good as he's been outside his meltdown inning though, go look up the movement of his fastball and his EVs so far and the fact that he's using two pitches 82.1% of the time. We all want him to succeed, but let's not start taking victory laps quite yet.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Jump to conclusions much? Claiming victory after three starts? Let's wait and see. It was a great start and he showed well. Players do develop and nobody should have "given up" on his being a starter. Just because I've said that he has some yellow flags that make him have a reliever risk doesn't mean you don't try him as a starter and see how he goes.

As good as he's been outside his meltdown inning though, go look up the movement of his fastball and his EVs so far and the fact that he's using two pitches 82.1% of the time. We all want him to succeed, but let's not start taking victory laps quite yet.

Thanks for the sober analysis.   I have high hopes for Bradish but one good start (or two out of three) doesn’t tell us that much.   Just look at Mike Wright’s first two starts.  

That said, I like his stuff and his delivery, so long as he can throw strikes.  
 

[interloper]

18 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Jump to conclusions much? Claiming victory after three starts? Let's wait and see. It was a great start and he showed well. Players do develop and nobody should have "given up" on his being a starter. Just because I've said that he has some yellow flags that make him have a reliever risk doesn't mean you don't try him as a starter and see how he goes.

As good as he's been outside his meltdown inning though, go look up the movement of his fastball and his EVs so far and the fact that he's using two pitches 82.1% of the time. We all want him to succeed, but let's not start taking victory laps quite yet.

This is fair. I'm just in a bit of a surly/defensive mood today I guess, so apologies if I'm prickly or quick to take a victory lap. 

I don't think Bradish will go without his struggles. I'm not suggesting he's going to be Justin Verlander. But I think he has a great shot of being Chris Tillman with more velocity. Or Jeremy Guthrie with better breaking stuff. I think he will get hit hard at times or lose command at times, but I don't think he will do any of that as often as, say, Jorge Lopez has in his SP career. 

That said, if he does end up a reliever, it's nice to know he had 98 in his back pocket. I don't recall seeing that in the minors, nor do I think that is the norm for him as a starter. I think the packed stadium juiced him up a bit. Which, honestly, is great to see. I don't want starters who shrink in that scenario. Tyler Wells, same type of guy. And even Zimmermann now looks like he's not afraid of anything. We'll see if it continues, but it's really encouraging seeing guys with this kind of attitude having success as Orioles starters.

I understand not everyone is comfortable busting out the confetti just yet. Totally get it. But things are looking promising so much so that you kind of forget John Means is out for the year. Let's see how long it lasts. 

[LTO's]

10 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

go look up the movement of his fastball and his EVs so far

I don't think fastball movement is really that big of a deal nowadays. His fastball spin and velocity are pretty well above the MLB average.  The SSS could be the reason for his exceptional BB% but it was much lower in Norfolk this year compared to last year as well.  I will grant you that he's going to have to mix in a changeup more to be successful but this seems to be a pitch the Orioles have had success working with our pitchers on. 

[Moose Milligan]

6 minutes ago, LTO's said:

I don't think fastball movement is really that big of a deal nowadays. His fastball spin and velocity are pretty well above the MLB average.  The SSS could be the reason for his exceptional BB% but it was much lower in Norfolk this year compared to last year as well.  I will grant you that he's going to have to mix in a changeup more to be successful but this seems to be a pitch the Orioles have had success working with our pitchers on. 

Why do you think fastball movement isn't a big deal?

[Moshagge3]

34 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

So because he had one excellent start in an excellent pitchers park, he is now definitely a starter long term?

I agree about one start not being a SSS, but what do park factors have to do with 0 BB, 11 Ks?

[LTO's]

13 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Why do you think fastball movement isn't a big deal?

It's just not a death sentence for a starting pitcher. If you're a high spin, high velocity guy with a plus breaking pitch and solid off-speed you can easily be a first division regular if you locate well. And in Bradish's case his fastball horizontal movement is poor but his vertical movement (due to his high release) is league average. The vertical movement on his slider and curveball are borderline elite. As I mentioned in the OP, he's going to need to improve the change to truly become a TOR guy. Someone like Dillon Tate is an example of a guy who gets a ton of horizontal movement but is incredibly unreliable most of the time. 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, LTO's said:

It's just not a death sentence for a starting pitcher. If you're a high spin, high velocity guy with a plus breaking pitch and solid off-speed you can easily be a first division regular if you locate well. And in Bradish's case his fastball horizontal movement is poor but his vertical movement (due to his high release) is league average. The vertical movement on his slider and curveball are borderline elite. As I mentioned in the OP, he's going to need to improve the change to truly become a TOR guy. Someone like Dillon Tate is an example of a guy who gets a ton of horizontal movement but is incredibly unreliable most of the time. 

If he can spot 98 on the black like he did a few times, I'm not too worried about movement. Zimmermann's fastball pretty much stinks, but he only has to throw it enough to make the change and slider effective. 

[Moose Milligan]

13 minutes ago, LTO's said:

It's just not a death sentence for a starting pitcher. If you're a high spin, high velocity guy with a plus breaking pitch and solid off-speed you can easily be a first division regular if you locate well. And in Bradish's case his fastball horizontal movement is poor but his vertical movement (due to his high release) is league average. The vertical movement on his slider and curveball are borderline elite. As I mentioned in the OP, he's going to need to improve the change to truly become a TOR guy. Someone like Dillon Tate is an example of a guy who gets a ton of horizontal movement but is incredibly unreliable most of the time. 

 

Fair enough.  I don't believe it's a death sentence for a pitcher but I do believe most hitters would prefer to look for a fastball with less movement than more.  Of course being able to spot it is the most important thing.  

In other words, it's one more thing (albeit a slight one) that's not working for him.

[Just Regular]

Fangraphs now updated today and Bradish freshly at 20.3 K-BB% through his three turns.

Among Starters with 10 IP that puts him 30th of 158 YTD.   In Fangraphs default Page size of 30, that also finger scrapes the honor of "on the first page" MLB-wide.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=sta&lg=all&qual=10&type=1&season=2022&month=0&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2022-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31&sort=9,d

Serious strike throwing category - Wells and Bradish both solidly in 1st page if you toggle to BB%, though those 0-2 pitches to Bobby Witt and Yadi Molina might have been a little fat.

 

 

[emmett16]

On 5/5/2022 at 2:15 PM, emmett16 said:

That was one terrible post game interview.  Was messing up canned lines and acted like he was was annoyed to be doing an interview.  Doesn’t seem to have much going on upstairs.  He admitted he lost focus in the 4th and became a “fan” watching the offense put up runs.  Pretty frustrating inning.  Hope he bounces back in a big way. 

FWIW - last nights interview went much better  

 

I imagine he was super nervous, flustered and a bit embarrassed during the 5/4 interview and made it obvious he was uncomfortable and wanted the interview to be over.  Maybe the comment “not going on upstairs” was a bit much. 
 

Last night you could tell he was proud of himself and trying not to cheese up.  
 

Next test = how do you go out after an electric performance, when everything everything is working, and pitch when you don’t have your A stuff. 

 

 

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

FWIW - last nights interview went much better  

 

I imagine he was super nervous, flustered and a bit embarrassed during the 5/4 interview and made it obvious he was uncomfortable and wanted the interview to be over.  Maybe the comment “not going on upstairs” was a bit much. 
 

Last night you could tell he was proud of himself and trying not to cheese up.  
 

Next test = how do you go out after an electric performance, when everything everything is working, and pitch when you don’t have your A stuff. 

 

 

It was better for sure. I just think he isn't all that comfortable doing them, it feels like he just wants it to end. Which I definitely relate to. 

He's not afraid to sound confident though (see: "was it difficult pitching in this stadium against this team" / "Difficult? No." lol) But I sorta love that. It's time the Orioles pitching staff had a little edge to it. Just as long as they aren't outright jerks or don't take responsibility. Looks to me like Bradish can critique himself while also projecting confidence, so that's all good stuff.