Pitchers and catchers reported to camp for the Orioles today, but report date has brought unwelcome news for Os fans. General manager Mike Elias announced to the Albert Suarez Jersey teams beat writers this morning that right-hander has been diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow ( via Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner). Hes already received a platelet-rich plasma injection and will begin a throwing progre sion tomorrow, but hell open the season on the injured list. Elias also revealed that is behind schedule due to an oblique injury thatll still need another two to three weeks of downtime, though the team isnt concerned that hell mi s much, if any time. Top catching prospect , meanwhile, has a stre s fracture in his throwing elbow and will be limited to DH work in camp. He could begun throwing again by late April ( via the Banners Andy Kostka). In even more injury news, lefty is about a month behind the rest of the Os starters, as the team had him delay the start of his offseason program after an elbow flare-up prior to last years ALDS ( Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun). The Bradish injury is a brutal blow for the defending AL East champions, who saw the right-hander emerge as their clear No. 1 starter in a breakout performance last season. The 27-year-old Bradish made 30 starts and pitched 168 2/3 innings with a 2.83 ERA, 25% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 49.2% ground-ball rate. Hed been expected to open the season as Baltimores No. 2 starter behind newly acquired ace , but that clearly wont happen now. The injury occurred when Bradish began throwing in January, Elias added ( via Meyer). The GM struck an optimistic tone, noting that everything is pointing in the right direction for the talented right-hander. Still, any UCL injury for a pitcher is going to be met with immense levels of both trepidation and caution, given the potential for Tommy John surgery. The Os, to be clear, have made no mention that a Tommy John procedure is a consideration at the moment but a sprain, by definition, involves some degree of tearing in the ligament. Weve seen plenty of pitchers diagnosed with a UCL sprain avoid surgery in recent years ( , , to name a few), but the majority of UCL injuries eventually result in surgery of some kind. Again, that outcome hasnt yet been broadcast by the team, and Bradish will clearly hope to add his name to the list of pitchers whove managed to rest/rehab a ligament injury without going under the knife. With Bradish and Means both likely to begin the year on the injured list, Baltimores rotation outlook is radically altered. Burnes is surely still penciled in to take the ball on Opening Day, and hell presumably be followed by righties and . The final two spots on the staff are far le s certain. Options on the 40-man roster include righties and as well as lefties and . Wells succe s as a starter early in the 23 season and Irvins track record in Oakland could give them a leg up in what will presumably be a spring competition. That said, it was already arguable that the Os could benefit from an aggre sive push to further bolster the starting staff, and uncertainty regarding their No. 2 starter and Means, their former top starter (prior to Tommy John surgery) will only rekindle speculation. Top free agents like and remain unsigned, and the free-agent market also has several solid back-of-the-rotation veterans, including and . Trade candidates like , , , and have not changed hands this winter. If the club is more pe simistic about Bradishs injury than has been let on thus far, theres an uncommonly large supply of potential reinforcements to consider. Obviously, any additions will require further spending, whether financial or in terms of prospect capital (or both). But the Orioles are generally well positioned to make some kind of addition, should they find a deal to their liking. The teams long-term payroll outlook is pristine, with only $1MM in guarantees on the books beyond the current season. Their projected 2024 payroll (per Roster Resource) is just $96MM nearly $70MM shy of the franchise-record mark for Opening Day payroll. And even after trading and to acquire Burnes, the Os are still ranked by both and as the games No. 1 farm system. Luis Aparicio Jersey