Taj Bradley tagged for five runs in loss to Cubs

He’ll be followed by Taj Bradley on Saturday afternoon and Zebby Matthews on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The expectation is that Joe Ryan would then start on Monday against the Guardians in Cleveland. Ober is coming off of a decent first half where he registered a 4.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 51/19 K/BB ratio over 71 2/3 innings in his first 13 starts.

Bradley was outstanding again, and this makes back-to-back starts where the 25-year-old has struck out double-digit hitters. The only run allowed was a solo homer by Rhys Hoskins, and sans that, he had zero issue disposing of the Cleveland lineup while picking up his eighth victory of the season and lowering his ERA to 3.67. After going through a bit of a dip in the middle of June, Bradley has really looked the part, and he’ll get a chance to keep it going against the lowly Angels on Sunday.

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.

Bradley scattered just three hits and three walks on the evening. He shut the Rockies out through the first seven innings, then returned for the eighth where he allowed a pair of hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen — and both runners ultimately scored. The 25-year-old hurler got 14 swings and misses on 99 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 29 percent. He’ll see if he can replicate this strong effort and further improve upon his 3.98 ERA and 1.28 WHIP when he squares off against the Astros in Houston on Wednesday.

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.