Kyle Bradish diagnosed with sports hernia, surgery possible as questions remain about Orioles’ handling of starter
By Brian Hradsky
The Baltimore Orioles finally have a clearer explanation for what was happening with Kyle Bradish during the final weeks of his season, and the diagnosis raises an uncomfortable question: Should the Orioles have shut Bradish down sooner?
Bradish has been diagnosed with a sports hernia after undergoing additional testing in Baltimore. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said Bradish and the organization are reviewing their options, with surgery among the possibilities. Bradish had already been placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday with what the club initially described as lower abdominal discomfort.
The diagnosis comes after a noticeable late-season decline from one of Baltimore’s most important starting pitchers. It also adds context to something I have been concerned about for weeks: continuing to send Bradish to the mound while his performance was deteriorating, his workload was climbing dramatically and the Orioles were approaching the end of the season.
We now know Bradish was not simply struggling.
He was pitching hurt.
Bradish had been dealing with the injury
Perhaps the most significant part of the story is that Bradish’s abdominal problem did not suddenly appear during his final start.
After Bradish went on the injured list, Albernaz acknowledged that the right-hander had been dealing with the abdominal issue for a while. The Orioles subsequently sent Bradish back to Baltimore for imaging, which resulted in the sports hernia diagnosis.
That changes the context surrounding his recent struggles.
Bradish’s final start came Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays. He lasted only three innings, surrendering eight hits and five earned runs, including two home runs, while walking two and striking out two. Toronto defeated Baltimore 7-3.
It was hardly an isolated poor performance.
Over Bradish’s final nine starts, he posted a 5.83 ERA, according to The Baltimore Banner. He failed to complete five innings in five of his final nine outings and allowed at least five earned runs three times during that stretch.
On Aug. 26 against the St. Louis Cardinals, Bradish surrendered seven earned runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He followed that with five innings against Colorado and four against Boston before the three-inning outing in Toronto.
There were enough warning signs to wonder whether Bradish was physically right.
Now we know he was not.
The workload should have been part of the conversation
Bradish’s situation becomes even more concerning when considering his recent medical history and workload.
Bradish underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2024. He threw only 39 1/3 major-league innings in 2024 and 32 innings in 2025 before making 29 starts and throwing 155 innings this season.
That represents an enormous increase in major-league workload.
Bradish told reporters after his final start that his arm felt good and rejected fatigue as an explanation for his struggles. That is important. There is no evidence that his surgically repaired elbow caused the sports hernia, and those two issues should not be conflated.
But protecting a pitcher returning from major surgery is about more than monitoring his elbow.
The Orioles had a starter who had gone from extremely limited workloads in consecutive seasons to 155 innings, whose effectiveness was declining and who, according to Albernaz, had been dealing with abdominal discomfort for some time.
That should have created a very low threshold for shutting him down.
Bradish still accomplished a lot in 2026
The injury should not erase what Bradish accomplished this season.
After two seasons disrupted by elbow problems and surgery, simply taking the ball 29 times represented a major step forward. Bradish finished his season with a 4.12 ERA over 155 innings with 142 strikeouts.
Those numbers are not as dominant as the Bradish Orioles fans saw before his elbow injury, but completing nearly a full season was significant.
His late-season performance dragged down the overall numbers considerably. Bradish’s ERA stood at 3.91 before his final outing and jumped to 4.12 after Toronto scored five earned runs against him in three innings.
The Orioles now know there was a physical issue occurring during at least part of that decline.
That makes evaluating his 2026 season more complicated than simply looking at his final ERA.
Surgery remains a possibility
Baltimore has not announced that Bradish will definitely undergo surgery.
Albernaz said Bradish is going through his options, and surgery is one of them. MLB’s official Orioles injury tracker lists Bradish’s expected return as 2027.
At this point, Baltimore’s priority should be Bradish’s long-term health.
There is effectively nothing left for him to prove in 2026. His regular season is finished, and the focus needs to shift completely toward determining the best treatment and giving Bradish enough time to prepare properly for 2027.
That is particularly important because Bradish is no longer simply a short-term piece of Baltimore’s rotation. The Orioles signed him to a five-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2031.
Protecting that investment matters considerably more than squeezing another September start out of him.
Orioles now have another rotation question
Bradish’s absence also creates an immediate opening in Baltimore’s rotation.
The Orioles currently have Trevor Rogers, Brandon Young, Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt among their starting options. When Bradish initially went on the injured list, Albernaz did not immediately identify who would take his rotation spot.
Cade Povich and Trey Gibson were among the potential internal candidates mentioned to cover Bradish’s remaining starts.
But the bigger issue extends beyond the final games of this season.
Baltimore needs Bradish healthy for 2027.
A healthy Bradish has already demonstrated that he can pitch near the front of a major-league rotation. Getting him through a complete offseason and into spring training without another setback should take precedence over everything else.
MSB Take
I have been saying for a while that something did not look right with Bradish and that the Orioles needed to seriously consider shutting him down. His performance was declining, the innings were accumulating and this was a pitcher coming off two consecutive seasons in which his workload was severely limited.
Now we learn that Bradish had been dealing with an abdominal problem for a while and that the eventual diagnosis is a sports hernia.
That does not mean anyone outside the organization could have diagnosed Bradish from watching him pitch. We could not. It also does not establish exactly when the sports hernia developed or when the Orioles’ medical staff had enough information to diagnose it.
But the Orioles’ own manager acknowledged Bradish had been dealing with the discomfort before he was finally placed on the injured list. Combined with his declining results and massive increase in innings, I believe Baltimore had enough warning signs to justify shutting him down earlier.
Bradish is a competitor. Of course he wanted the baseball. Most major-league pitchers will tell a manager they can go.
The organization has to make the bigger decision.
There was little reason to continue pushing a pitcher who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024 from 32 major-league innings last season all the way to 155 this year when his performance was slipping and he was experiencing physical discomfort. The Orioles needed to protect Bradish from himself.
Hopefully the sports hernia can be treated without disrupting Bradish’s preparation for 2027. If surgery is ultimately determined to be the best option, the Orioles should get it addressed and give him every opportunity to recover completely.
Bradish proved plenty this season.
He did not need another start to prove his toughness. He needed the Orioles to recognize when enough was enough.
