Taj Bradley strikes out seven in no-decision

This was the good version of Bradley. His velocity was up a bit and his fastball sat just above 98 mph and touched 100 mph a couple of times. With that, he had no fear challenging the Astros’ hitters with it in the zone. Apart from that, he had solid command of his secondaries. The Astros have a very right-handed heavy lineup and Bradley used his more slider-ish cutter breaking down and away against them. Also, he was mostly consistent with his splitter below the zone and even stole a few called strikes with it early in the count when he needed to. His 11 strikeouts matched a career-high and he now has a 3.86 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 88 2/3 innings this season. He’s lined up to face the Guardians next time out in his final outing before the All-Star break.

Both runs scored on Jorge Barrosa’s homer in the fifth. Fortunately, Bradley had a little 16-0 lead before that happened. It would have been nice if he had been a bit more efficient and could have gone six or maybe even seven innings in the blowout, but that’s not Bradley’s game. At least he improved to 6-3 with his first win in six starts since coming off the IL. He’ll take a 4.11 ERA into a very promising matchup at home against the Rockies next week.

Bradley allowed five hits, and he struck out seven against one walk. Three of his four runs came off homers, and outside of those roundtrippers, it was a solid outing for the 25-year-old. It’s his best start since coming off the injured list, and an encouraging one after struggling in his previous few outings. Far from perfect, but encouraging. He’ll try and build on this outing against the Diamondbacks on Saturday in Arizona.

Bradley was off to a really nice start until Buster Olney called him underrated on Aor. 18. Since then, Bradley has served an IL stint and walked 19 while giving up 25 runs in 37 1/3 innings, which amounts to a 6.02 ERA. He gave up three homers, walked three and issued two wild pitches tonight. He’ll stay in the rotation, of course, and face the Cardinals on Sunday, but no one should be very enthused about him at this point.

Bradley gave up seven hits along with the five walks, so this could have been worse. Bradley was effective in his return from the IL against the Red Sox on May 23, but he’s given up nine runs in 8 2/3 innings since. He had a 1.63 ERA in his first five starts this season but a 5.18 ERA in six starts since. It seems like a good idea to stick with him in a two-start week against the Tigers and Cardinals next week, but if he struggles then, mixed leaguers probably ought to move on.

Bradley turned in his shortest outing of the season in this one, surrendering five hits, including a gargantuan 450-foot homer to Oneil Cruz in the third inning. He piled up six strikeouts and only walked two batters. The lackluster effort snapped a streak of three consecutive quality starts since April 29. He’s been one of this season’s more impressive breakthrough arms with a solid 3.21 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 65/21 K/BB ratio across 56 innings of work. He’ll take the ball at home against the division-rival Royals on Thursday.

Bradley was originally slated the take the ball for Thursday’s series finale against the White Sox. It’ll likely be a bullpen game instead. The positive news is that he’s healthy and there don’t appear to be any injury concerns here. He’ll get some extra rest before toeing the rubber at PNC Park later this week. The 25-year-old emerging fantasy stalwart struck out seven and allowed one run over five inning against the Red Sox in his return from the injured list last Saturday.

Bradley was excellent in his return from the injured list on Saturday, holding the Red Sox to one run over five frames. The one run would come in to score in the fourth on three hits. They would be the only hits he allowed on the day while generating 11 whiffs to strike out seven batters. The 25-year-old right-hander will take a 2.77 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 59/19 K/BB ratio across 52 innings into a start against the White Sox in Chicago on Thursday.

Bradley returns from the injured list to take the ball at historic Fenway Park against the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon, weather permitting, following a two-week absence recovering from pectoral inflammation. The 25-year-old former top pitching prospect was in the midst of a clear breakthrough campaign with a sparkling 2.87 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 52/17 K/BB ratio across 47 innings prior to the injury. There could be some workload restrictions since he threw only 42 pitches, before likely getting some additional work in the bullpen afterwards, during his final rehab start last weekend.

After an easy first, Bradley threw 30 pitches in the second and it was decided not to extend him further. This figured to be Bradley’s only rehab start, as he’s eligible to come off the injured list next weekend. However, perhaps the Twins will now ask him to pitch once more in the minors.