Orioles’ Kyle Bradish out for season after Tommy John surgery; Danny Coulombe out until September
NEW YORK — First it was John Means. Then it was Tyler Wells. Now it’s Kyle Bradish and Danny Coulombe.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias on Wednesday announced that Bradish, one of the best starting pitchers in the American League, underwent Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.
Coulombe also had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, Elias said. The hope is that the left-handed reliever can return in September.
Bradish, who injured the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow during his start Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, joins Means and Wells as Orioles starting pitchers to receive elbow surgery and miss the rest of the season. In early June, Means underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time of his career, while Wells received his second UCL surgery, opting for the new internal brace procedure that could lead to a quicker recovery.
Bradish had his surgery Monday with Dr. Keith Meister in Texas, Elias said. Meister has developed a hybrid procedure during which a pitcher receives Tommy John surgery and then has an internal brace added on to provide more support.
Bradish, 27, finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting last year when he broke out to become the Orioles’ ace. He missed the first five weeks of the 2024 season with a sprained UCL he suffered in the postseason and treated with plasma-rich platelet injections to speed his recovery. That injury raised concerns about Bradish’s availability this season, as pitchers who sprain their UCL often need surgery.
Elias praised Bradish for being a “tough hombre” this season. The general manager said pitching through a sprained UCL is difficult mentally and physically, and he was impressed with how well Bradish performed. But the right-hander’s elbow worsened Friday when he pitched through pain.
Baltimore’s rotation has held up despite the rash of injuries, as Albert Suárez and Cole Irvin have stepped up to fill key innings while Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez have been excellent. But the absence of Bradish for the remainder of the season could lead Elias to dip into the starting pitching market at the trade deadline.
In 2023, only seven Orioles pitchers spent time on the injured list as the club ended the season with the fifth-fewest IL days in MLB. Less than halfway into the 2024 campaign, they’ve already reached the same number: Cionel Pérez, Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Coulombe, Bradish, Wells and Means. Despite the injury woes, the Orioles sport a 3.09 ERA that ranks second in the majors.
Elias said the Orioles are “very hopeful” Coulombe will return to Baltimore’s bullpen this season, with September as a target timeline. The left-handed reliever had his surgery Tuesday with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
Since the Orioles acquired him in an under-the-radar cash trade last March, Coulombe has been one of manager Brandon Hyde’s most-trusted relievers. For at least the foreseeable future, Hyde will need to use other pitchers to fill Coulombe’s shoes.
After a breakout 2023 campaign in which the journeyman posted a 2.81 ERA and impressive peripherals with his sixth MLB organization, Coulombe was even better to begin 2024. In 26 innings, Coulombe recorded a 2.42 ERA with a staggering 0.615 WHIP and 9.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Those All-Star-caliber numbers don’t just make him one of the most effective left-handed relievers in the AL, but one of the best bullpen arms in the major leagues. He leads all qualified relievers in WHIP and ranks top 10 in batting average against (.146) and walk rate (3.3%).
Last week, Coulombe was “optimistic” that his elbow injury wasn’t serious. Coulombe, who received Tommy John surgery in 2011 as a college pitcher at Texas Tech, said the soreness he was experiencing was in a different area than he’s ever felt before.
Coulombe appeared in 29 games before his injury, although that doesn’t include the times he’s warmed up in the bullpen without entering to pitch. He went a season-high two innings June 8 and threw 30 pitches in a win over the Rays. He showed no signs of fatigue, retiring all six batters he faced, including striking out the side in his final frame.
The Orioles recalled relievers Bryan Baker and Nick Vespi to replace Coulombe and Bradish on the roster. Baker and Vespi have both had some success in Baltimore in recent years, especially in a small sample this year.
But there’s no replacement for Coulombe, a left-hander whose mostly breaking ball arsenal makes him nearly as good against right-handed batters as lefties. Righties are hitting .130 with a .490 OPS off Coulombe this year, while lefties have posted a .171 average and .400 OPS. Hyde often used Coulombe in some of the highest-leverage moments of a game, and the southpaw rewarded his skipper by stranding all 13 runners he inherited this season.
With the Orioles consistently playing competitive games with high-leverage moments in the late innings, that puts more stress on a bullpen that entered the year without closer Félix Bautista (Tommy John surgery).
“It’s a lot easier to pitch down 6-2 than it is 6-4 with two runners on,” Hyde said last week. “Knock on wood, we keep playing these types of games, appearances are going to be up for a lot of these guys. … I look at appearances and I look at games pitched and I look at days off and stressful innings and all those things — and then you have to try go win the game, too. It’s a tough balance.
“But when you win, you’re pitching more often out of the bullpen than when you’re losing.”
This story will be updated.