For the past 373 days, Kyle Bradish has been forced to patiently wait for what he’ll get to do next week.

Bradish, the Orioles’ ace in 2023 who underwent elbow surgery last June, will head to Sarasota, Florida, on Sunday to take the next step — and one of the most consequential — in his recovery.

After months of recovery exercises, playing catch and throwing bullpen sessions, the right-hander will face live hitters at the Orioles’ spring training complex, interim manager Tony Mansolino said Friday while providing updates on several of the club’s injured pitchers.

Bradish threw his latest bullpen session at Camden Yards on Friday as he approaches the end of his recovery from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. The 28-year-old’s rehab has gone to plan thus far. Most Tommy John recipients return between 14 and 16 months, and Bradish said a month ago that he’s hoping to do so in August — about 14 months since he went under the knife.

Bradish was one of the American League’s best starters in 2023, posting a 2.86 ERA and finishing fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting. He said during spring training that he pitched with elbow pain through the second half of 2023 and his eight starts in 2024. Despite receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow in January 2024, which caused him to miss spring training and the start to the regular season, Bradish got even better, recording a 2.75 ERA and increasing his strikeout rate from 25% to 32.5%.

The ideal scenario for the Orioles (34-46) is for the team to get hot over the next month, preventing a trade deadline sell-off and allowing Bradish to bolster the rotation upon his return in August.

The next step for Bradish after facing hitters in Sarasota is to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment. After that ends, he’d return to Baltimore to rejoin an Orioles rotation that’s been one of the majors’ worst this season with a 5.21 ERA. Thirteen months ago, the Orioles’ rotation had Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez and Bradish in it. Now all three are injured, with Rodriguez out with a lat muscle injury and Burnes recovering from Tommy John surgery after signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Rodriguez and Tyler Wells also threw bullpen sessions at Oriole Park on Friday. Rodriguez has begun mixing in his offspeed pitches, Mansolino said, as the right-hander attempts to get healthy after missing the past four months with triceps and lat muscle injuries. Mansolino said Rodriguez’s bullpen session “went really good.” The club hasn’t shared a timeline for when the former top pitching prospect could return.

Wells, who had his ulnar collateral ligament repaired last June, is on a similar timeline to Bradish, but one week behind, Mansolino said. That means Wells will head to Sarasota in early July to face hitters. The right-hander has past success as a starter and reliever in Baltimore, but Mansolino said that the organization has not decided which role Wells will serve upon his return.

“We just got to get him healthy first,” Mansolino said. “That’s a hard thing to answer. I mean, who knows? We might need him to be at that point, but we just got to kind of get him healthy and go from there.”

Around the horn

Albert Suárez (shoulder muscle strain) is playing catch on flat ground and “progressing as expected,” Mansolino said. The team hasn’t provided a timeline for his return.

Left-hander Cade Povich (left hip inflammation) began his rehab assignment Thursday in Triple-A Norfolk, allowing five runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings while striking out three. Mansolino didn’t say when or if Povich will rejoin the rotation when he’s healthy.

Pitching prospect Brandon Young was optioned to Norfolk on Friday after he started Wednesday for the Orioles. Reliever Kade Strowd was recalled to give Mansolino another bullpen arm and put the rotation back at five starters. Young allowed four runs in four innings Wednesday in his third career MLB start. “I liked him,” Mansolino said. “I liked what I saw the other night. I went back and watched the video of it this morning when we got in here. There’s a lot to like with that.”

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (hamstring strain) said he began a hitting progression about a week ago and is hoping to return July 30 when he’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list.

Baltimore Sun reporter Matt Weyrich contributed to this article.

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