Bradish (Tommy John surgery) out for year; Coulombe may return in Sept.

NEW YORK -- For the third time in 17 days, an Orioles starting pitcher underwent a procedure on his ulnar collateral ligament. The latest to do so marked the biggest blow to the rotation yet.

On Wednesday evening at Yankee Stadium, general manager Mike Elias announced that right-hander Kyle Bradish underwent Tommy John surgery earlier in the day. The 27-year-old, who finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting last year and has been a front-line starter for Baltimore, is out for the season.

The O’s rotation had already lost left-hander John Means (who underwent his second Tommy John surgery on June 3) and righty Tyler Wells (who had UCL revision surgery with an internal brace augmentation on Monday).

Bradish’s Tommy John surgery was performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, and he also had an internal brace put in -- the same type of hybrid procedure that Rangers ace Jacob deGrom underwent last June. Bradish isn’t likely to return until the second half of 2025.

“Kyle, enormous talent, enormous part of the team. This is a huge blow. This guy is really a tough hombre,” Elias said. “He gave us everything he had, and we’re going to miss him.”

Elias delivered other injury news as well, announcing that Baltimore’s bullpen will be without its top left-hander for likely several months. Danny Coulombe underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow on Tuesday -- the operation being performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles -- but the 34-year-old is expected to return in September.

In the interim, the Orioles’ relief corps will try to make up for the loss of Coulombe, who had a 2.42 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP over 29 appearances this season.

Baltimore’s rotation will try to withstand Bradish’s absence for much longer, as it already had to do earlier in the year.

After recording a 2.83 ERA in 30 starts during his 2023 breakout campaign, Bradish sustained a UCL sprain in January, when he then received a platelet-rich plasma injection. The righty missed all of Spring Training and opened the ‘24 season on the injured list.

Bradish rejoined the Orioles’ staff in May and immediately returned to form, pitching to a 2.75 ERA over eight starts. He tossed seven hitless innings vs. the White Sox in Chicago on May 26 and dazzled for six scoreless frames of one-hit ball vs. the Rays in St. Petersburg on June 8.

“Kyle Bradish is an absolute warrior, and he probably didn’t let on what he was pitching through, honestly, because he loves to compete,” manager Brandon Hyde. “He wants the ball. He does not want to come out of the game. He’s just a fierce, fierce competitor, and he’s as tough as any player that I’ve had.”

However, Bradish couldn’t make it through his start vs. the Phillies last Friday, when he exited after throwing 74 pitches in five innings due to elbow discomfort. He underwent testing, which showed that Tommy John surgery would be the necessary course of action.

“Definitely not a shortcoming of his, it just came to an end,” Elias said. “This guy, I think he would have kept pitching until his arm fell off if people let him. He did a hell of a job. He helped us win games, and we’re going to pick up the slack for him.”

The defending AL East champion O’s -- who were 47-25 and sitting 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees entering Wednesday night’s clash between the division rivals -- must move forward and find a way to continue their push toward October (and, ideally, a deep postseason run).

Baltimore’s 3.03 rotation ERA ranks third in MLB. Without Bradish, Means and Wells, here’s where that group stands:

1. RHP Corbin Burnes
2. RHP Grayson Rodriguez
3. LHP Cole Irvin
4. RHP Albert Suárez
5. LHP Cade Povich (O’s No. 9 prospect per MLB Pipeline)

Dean Kremer (right triceps strain) should return from the IL later this month, and fellow right-hander Chayce McDermott (Baltimore’s No. 8 prospect) could get the call from Triple-A Norfolk for the first time at some point this summer.

Meanwhile, the Orioles’ 3.18 bullpen ERA also ranks third in the Majors, a feat they’ve accomplished without All-Star closer Félix Bautista (out for the season following Tommy John surgery). Without Coulombe, more relievers will need to cover high-leverage spots alongside All-Star righty Yennier Cano and lefty Cionel Pérez.

Considering how banged up Baltimore’s pitching staff has become, does Elias have a heightened sense of urgency to bring in reinforcements prior to the July 30 Trade Deadline?

“I’ve got a sense of urgency to win baseball games, and part of that is just taking care of the whole organization,” Elias said. “The Deadline is the Deadline, even before we have injuries. I think it would have been pretty naive to think that the injury number would be zero, especially with some of these guys coming into camp banged up. ...

“We’re looking at the whole picture when it comes to this Trade Deadline -- where our team’s at, what our health looks like, where we can upgrade, what the market looks like, which teams are selling, what are they asking for. It’s so complicated. It’s just kind of hard for me to make sweeping statements and opine about it, especially in June. But we have, what I think, is a really good, hard-working front office, and we’re going to do our job.”