Kyle Bradish was literally unhittable on Sunday, piling up 11 strikeouts and allowing no runs thanks in large part to the strength of his two-seam fastball.
But was that even his best?
“I wouldn’t say I had my best stuff,” Bradish said not long after walking off the mound. “I mean, I walked four guys and pregame bullpen wasn’t great.”
On Monday, Cole Irvin followed it up with five scoreless innings and six strikeouts. He’s only given up two earned runs in his last five starts. But, Irvin said, he had heard from his teammates that they were looking for more in the 11-3 win.
“We’ve already made jokes about, ‘Hey, that’s not good enough,’” Irvin said. “It’s a good competition, and we have fun with it.”
What is good enough, exactly, for a starting rotation that, as of Tuesday morning, is tied for third in ERA (3.04) and fifth for WHIP (1.13), and ranks fourth for average against (.220) in the majors? If you listen to the pitchers pick themselves apart, they’re looking for nothing short of perfection, despite a set of circumstances that have been anything but ideal.
The Orioles have been making the best of a topsy-turvy injury situation in their starting rotation, still performing even as arms have moved in and out. While injuries have tormented many pitching staffs throughout the league, among the top five teams in starter ERA, only the Orioles have had eight different pitchers start at least three games — and all but two of the starters have a sub-4 ERA.
Stability is a common theme throughout the best teams in the league. Despite missing ace Gerrit Cole, the Yankees have five pitchers with at least 10 starts. The Phillies and Royals each have four. The Red Sox have dealt with health issues, but they still have two pitchers who haven’t missed starts.
Corbin Burnes (11 starts, 2.60 ERA) is the only Orioles starter to not miss an appearance so far amidst a chaotic start to the season. Bradish and John Means weren’t healthy when spring training broke, while Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells have all spent time on the IL this year (and Means is back on it).
Albert Suárez is somehow pitching better this season than his last MLB stint in 2017. Irvin wasn’t even originally envisioned in the starting rotation, but he’s pitched so well (and the Orioles have been so hurt) that he’s become one of the most reliable performers with eight starts and five wins.
“We’ve had amazing effort from all of our guys,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “The way others have stepped up and stepped in certain roles and added into the rotation — guys like Irv and Suárez — these guys have done a great job of keeping us in games and helping us win games.”
Irvin, in fact, might be the most emblematic of the extreme flexibility of this group. He was forced into early relief and threw three-plus innings in the series finale against the Cardinals last week when Means left early with elbow pain. Days later, Irvin was back in the starting rotation keeping the Red Sox off the board.
He didn’t “feel” like himself until a few innings into the appearance, he said. But rolling with the punches has been a huge part of this season. Irvin said watching his teammates, like Burnes or Bradish, helps deliver inspiration to the group.
“There’s no egos in this clubhouse,” he said. “A lot of guys enjoy fighting for each other, and it’s a blast. When a role change happens or something like that, it makes it that much easier to say, ‘OK, yeah. I got friends everywhere I look, so this is gonna make it easy to be able to make that transition.’”
I’ve expressed concerns about the long-term viability of the Orioles’ pitching health before in this space, and the specter of injury hovers like a dark cloud over this entire season.
Hyde declined to put a finger on one specific issue, but various scapegoats have emerged leaguewide: the pitch clock, the extreme spin and speed required in the modern era, the lack of “sticky stuff” after a change in rules several years ago. The deck feels stacked against pitchers, not just the ones on the Orioles, who despite playing fewer innings than their counterparts of generations past are finding it harder to get through full seasons healthy.
But Orioles starters don’t indulge in excuses. They just deliver. And that’s been one of the most surprising, most impressive aspects of Baltimore’s start to another promising season.
“When our offense starts clicking together, hitting’s contagious — pitching’s the same way,” Irvin said. “We watch a guy go out, dominate a lineup, we want to be the next guy that does it. So it’s just a really kind of pass-the-baton mentality, and a lot of guys enjoy competing with each other.”
