2 years agoBaltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish finished his rookie campaign with some unflattering numbers: 4-7 record, 4.90 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 21.8% strikeout rate, and 9% walk rate over 23 starts. He allowed too many home runs (1.30 HR/9), in part because of poor contact stats (39th-percentile barrel rate, 24th-percentile hard-hit rate), but his 14.9% HR/FB and 19% HR/FB at home were bad breaks, especially at Camden Yards (26th in home run factor). Bradish's poor 89.9 MPH average exit velocity was a factor in his .268 batting average against, but the .311 BABIP and .253 xBA offer hope for better things to come in 2023. The 26-year-old has a couple of solid pitches in his arsenal; a four-seamer he threw with decent velocity (70th percentile) and spin (64th percentile) and a slider with great vertical and horizontal movement and got batters to chase 32.5% of the time. Utilizing the slider more than he did during his rookie season (29.7%) and finding more swing and miss in his fastball (17.5% whiff rate) will be significant for Bradish to find strikeout numbers that resemble his career minor league strikeout rate of 29%. He'll probably never be a great command pitcher, but he attacked the zone enough (48.7% zone rate) and will likely produce more swing and miss outside the zone going forward after posting a 51.2% chase contact rate. Bradish has the stuff to be a respectable major league starter, which he showed in the second half with a 3.28 ERA. Fantasy managers shouldn't view him as a potential ace, but even a 4.13 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and nine wins, as Steamer projects, with added strikeouts, are worth the right-hander's 518 ADP.--Spencer Seguin