The Baltimore Orioles have locked up one of their best starting pitchers in Kyle Bradish. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported in a tweet late afternoon yesterday that the team “has agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract extension”, according to Passan’s sources at ESPN. Passan also reported that this extension comes with Bradish having three more years of control before he reaches free agency at the conclusion of the 2029 season, in which this contract will buy out those years and add additional years as well onto his current contract structure.
Bradish has arguably been the Orioles’ best starting pitcher this year.
The 29-year-old has a 6-9 record with a 3.61 ERA in 107.1 innings pitched with 106 strikeouts and a 1.35 WHIP. Bradish’s underlying metrics in 2026 don’t jump out at you. He throws an about-average fastball at 94.5 mph, and he generated around league-average swing and miss with a 25.3% whiff percentage, 30.4% chase percentage, and 23.3% K percentage, which rank in the 51st, 52nd, and 54th percentiles, according to Baseball Savant. There is one thing, however, Bradish is exceptional at. He can generate a lot of ground ball contact this season.
Bradish Is More Of A Ground Ball Pitcher This Year
Bradish currently ranks in the 85th percentile amongst starting pitchers with a 50.2 ground ball percentage, per Baseball Savant. Bradish throws an array of pitches that can be conducive to ground ball pitchers, which include a sinker, slider, curveball, and fastball, per Baseball Savant. Those are his four primary pitches, in which he actually relies most heavily on his sinker, which he’s thrown 33.8% of the time during the 2026 season, per Baseball Savant.
His second most relied on pitch is his fastball, which he throws 26.7% of the time this season, and somewhat surprisingly, he relies least on his fastball usage, which he’s thrown just 17.5% of the time (311 pitches) in 2026, per Baseball Savant. This contract extension for Bradish ranks it as the highest pitching contract given out in Baltimore Orioles history; previously, it was set by starting pitcher Shane Baz this past offseason, who signed a five-year 68 million contract, but Bradish will now exceed that by $12 million, reports Baltimore Orioles beat writer and reporter Jake Rill of MLB.com.
Bradish has become a key contributor in the Orioles rotation the last several seasons, dating to 2023. After a bit of a murky start to his big league career in 2022, where he posted a 4.90 ERA in 23 appearances (117.2 innings pitched), Bradish had a breakout season in 2023, where he logged 30 starts (168.2 innings) with an impressive 2.83 ERA and 168 strikeouts. Bradish recorded 12 wins and also held opponents to just a .214 batting average against him and a 1.04 WHIP.
Orioles Need Starting Pitching
The Orioles have lacked starting pitching depth for quite some time, but in the interim, they lock up one of their better arms long term, who they hope will continue this trajectory of success.
Orioles owner Dave Rubenstein commented on the move to Orioles beat writer/reporter Jake Rill, stating, “Keeping players of Kyle’s caliber in an Orioles uniform is an important part of our long-term vision.” Rubenstein would further state, “We are grateful to Kyle for his commitment to our organization and to Baltimore”, as reported by Rill of MLB.com.
Despite a disappointing 2026 season for the Orioles up to this point, as they are in 4th place with a 48-51 record, this is at least positive news for a change with an organization that’s taken a backslide in performance and expectations the last few seasons. However, despite the highs and lows of this Orioles season, they are currently just two games back of a wild card spot in the American League. The season is still far from over.
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