Kyle Bradish 2023

[Frobby]

Nice to see Bradish have a smooth spring debut and fill up the strike zone.  I think he’s got a shot at being an above average major league starter this year, especially if his command is sharp.  Today, he only threw 26 pitches in two innings, 17 for strikes.  Sounds like he was pleased.

“Felt really good,” he said. “It’s obviously great taking the mound for the first time in spring training, and had some success. Got to work every pitch. Threw a lot of good sliders, a lot of good sinkers. Had really good curveballs, too.

"Anytime you go out there and you have five weapons that are working, it makes pitching easier, but it is still early. There's still stuff to work on, so not gonna look too much into this, but it's nice to have some success early."

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/hyde-happy-with-camp-talent-bradish-excels-in-two-innings

[Sports Guy]

Command and throw a third pitch consistently. If he can do those things, he will be really good imo. 
 

Bradish is a great example of why I still have a lot of hope for Hall.  

[wildcard]

I think Bradish as a good chance to take what he did in the 2nd half of last year and do it for 33 games this season.  3.28 ERA for 175 IP.

[Just Regular]

I take it as a good sign Pitching Ninja is highlighting 20-odd pitches into his spring.

Meoli's newsletter today had an interesting tidbit:

It was often explained to me that because of Bradish’s unique delivery, his pitches play differently to hitters than the raw data about them would indicate. 

 

 

[CaptainRedbeard]

I think having that sinker over the course of a full season will make a massive difference for him. Last year, he was better against lefties by FIP/xFIP by a fair margin just because he had a massively better GB rate (54.8% to 41%) leading to fewer HRs. K rates were about the same and BB rate was actually worse against lefties, but righties were getting the ball in the air with authority far too often due to his 4 seamer shape. 

With an effective sinker to go with his wicked slider, he’s going to be death to righties this year. I’m still skeptical he can be effective against lefties with his change up so hard (almost 90 mph) and used so infrequently, but I think his 4 seamer with its natural cut is more effective against them so it should all add together well. If he stays healthy all year, and especially if the little velo bump he showed yesterday sticks, he’s an excellent breakout candidate for a big season. 

[waroriole]

13 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

I think having that sinker over the course of a full season will make a massive difference for him. Last year, he was better against lefties by FIP/xFIP by a fair margin just because he had a massively better GB rate (54.8% to 41%) leading to fewer HRs. K rates were about the same and BB rate was actually worse against lefties, but righties were getting the ball in the air with authority far too often due to his 4 seamer shape. 

With an effective sinker to go with his wicked slider, he’s going to be death to righties this year. I’m still skeptical he can be effective against lefties with his change up so hard (almost 90 mph) and used so infrequently, but I think his 4 seamer with its natural cut is more effective against them so it should all add together well. If he stays healthy all year, and especially if the little velo bump he showed yesterday sticks, he’s an excellent breakout candidate for a big season. 

Good point about the change up. It’s at best a 4th pitch you throw occasionally when you need to take a little off the FB to keep a hitter off balance who’s seen you a lot. 

[btdart20]

Here's to Bradish's development being a fun one to watch in 2023!  Salud!  

[LA2]

Bradish during the second half, Kremer, Voth, and Lyles--and even Watkins--were very pleasant to watch last season.

Add Grayson, Gibson, and Irvin to the first three, Givens in the 'pen, slightly better infield D (Odor gone, Henderson and Mateo anchoring the left side. and Gold Glover Urias floating around or starting if Frazier flops), and pies-in-the-sky Means and Hall: if all that delivers, 2023 will turn out to be quite inspiring--and a nice low-budget surprise to the rest of the AL East. 

[Just Regular]

FWIW Eno Sarris bid up to $6 tonight to win Bradish against 11 pundit competitors in LABR AL Only, where other $6 starting pitchers were Tyler Anderson, Garrett Whitlock and Eduardo Rodriguez.

Grayson fetched a $14 bid, 24th highest among SP league wide, tied with Jeffrey Springs.    

Felix with the small injury concern ended up pricing in Tier 2 with Holmes/Duran/Kenley, lagging the Clase/Romano/Pressly lead group of closers we hope he performs like once again.

Roto players distrust of old guys resulted in Mountcastle/Santander getting bid a little bit higher than their established Yankee counterparts Rizzo/Giancarlo.

https://www.rtsports.com/labr-al-auction

[MarCakes21]

Interesting though that Rodriguez gets higher bids than established pitchers like Glasnow and Sale.  I like to follow these, I actually think they're decent predictors of performance.

[Just Regular]

Statcast of course in the Tampa MLB ballpark for this afternoon's 3 innings - it saw 15 four-seams and 4 sinkers.

He got through in <15 pitches/inning.

Role wise I look for him and Kremer to follow Gibson in Fenway.    Kremer's better 2022 ERA I've thought may give him a Game 2 edge, but it'll be interesting to see what Hyde does.    Kremer had a good line pitching 2nd the other day too.

I am guessing the Israel forecast is they will go 0-5 in their pool, and believe the pool is five games in five days.     We'll see how the date Kremer pitches mixes in with what the Orioles are doing.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Just Regular

[CharmCityHokie]

3 hours ago, Just Regular said:

 

I am guessing the Israel forecast is they will go 0-5 in their pool, and believe the pool is five games in five days.     We'll see how the date Kremer pitches mixes in with what the Orioles are doing.

Looking at Team Israel's pitching roster, I'd be shocked if Kremer isn't SP#1 if they follow traditional baseball mantra of your best guy throws first. 

[OriolesMagic83]

55 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

Looking at Team Israel's pitching roster, I'd be shocked if Kremer isn't SP#1 if they follow traditional baseball mantra of your best guy throws first. 

Kremer might be one of their better hitters too.

[nvpacchi]

One worrying thing I just came across when digging into some numbers.

Out of all the pitchers that threw at least 600 fastballs and pitched at least innings 1-6 (basically starters), no one lost more average fastballs velo from inning 1 to inning 6 than Bradish.

95.6 MPH in first inning down to 93.4 MPH in sixth inning = 2.23 MPH decrease.  It could be that he was just pumping in inning 1 too often, because even his second inning was down almost a full tick to 94.76.

Hopefully he just has to build up durability and more seasoning and growth will allow him to hold his velo more.  Note I didn't use his sinker in this study

[Hank Scorpio]

Bradish looked like a completely different pitcher today once Castellanos was aboard. 

Totally lost command of everything.