Taj

Bradley

Bradley was roughed up by the Red Sox in his second spring outing, but he’s been excellent in the last two to drag his ERA down to 4.50. He’s struck out 19 and walked five in 14 innings. Bradley became the clear favorite to serve as the Twins’ fourth starter after Pablo López went down, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to throw it away. That would leave one rotation spot for Mick Abel and Zebby Matthews.

A nice rebound after he gave up five runs last time out. The bottom of the first started with a 105-mph Trent Grisham blast to center that would have been a homer in 21 major league ballparks, but it was just a long out in this one. Bradley went on to have a fine day, even though six of the eight balls in play against him were hit hard. One of those was a 99-mph liner to second that Tristan Gray was able to turn into a double play by picking Jasson Domínguez off first base.

Bradley, who withdrew earlier this week from pitching in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, is suddenly an important early-season contributor for the injury-ravaged Twins. He finished with four strikeouts and only issued one walk. He served up six hits, including a gargantuan round-tripper to Jarren Duran. He’ll aim for better results his next time out.

Bradley’s odds of making Minnesota’s season-opening rotation rose exponentially when Pablo López underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this spring. The 24-year-old will stick around in Twins camp rather than heading out to pitch for Team Mexico in the upcoming international showcase.

Bradley should have given up two homers, but the wind knocked down a potential leadoff shot from Ronald Acuña Jr. to start the bottom of the first, resulting in a single. As it turned out, only Drake Baldwin’s solo shot in the third did any damage. Bradley’s bid for a rotation spot got a big boost when Pablo López was diagnosed with a torn ACL. He still definitely has the stuff to be a quality big-league starter. He just needs to turn that into results at some point.

Bradley faced little resistance from a watered-down, post-elimination Texas lineup, surrendering only four baserunners over six frames with Josh Smith’s fourth-inning solo shot representing the lone tally against him in this one. The nine punchouts were only shy of his previous season-high, which he set back on June 1 while still with Tampa Bay. It was a nice bounce-back after getting torched for seven runs over four innings his last time out against the Yankees. He finishes the season with a lackluster 5.05 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 127/56 K/BB ratio across 142 2/3 innings over 27 starts.

At least when Bradley was thoroughly mediocre his first two years, one could point to his 27% strikeout rate as a reason to believe in him. In year three, though, his strikeout rate has plummeted to 20% and walk rate has gone the other way. He now has a 7.82 ERA in five starts for the Twins and a 5.20 ERA in 26 starts overall. He’ll finish up with a start against the Rangers next week.

Bradley allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five in another decent showing. After giving up seven runs to the White Sox in his Twins debut, he has a 4.40 ERA and a n 18/6 K/BB in 16 1/3 innings over his last three starts. His next outing is due to come against the Yankees. He has a 6.75 ERA and an ugly 4/7 K/BB in two starts against them this season.

On the plus side, the 24-year-old hurler managed to rack up seven strikeouts on the evening while issuing only one base on balls. The White Sox got to him for three runs in the third inning — including a two-run double off the bat of Curtis Mead. They tacked on another in the fifth on a sacrifice fly. Still, Bradley exited with a 6-4 lead and in line for a victory, though the Twins’ bullpen couldn’t hang on for him. He generated 11 swings and misses on 91 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 30 percent. He’ll look to get back in the win column as he brings a 4.92 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 109/49 K/BB ratio (126 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Angels in Los Angeles.

“I just never did it at all,” Bradley admitted after Saturday’s start against San Diego. “I was kind of out there blind the whole time.” The stunning revelation helps explain why the former top pitching prospect never reached his lofty potential with the Rays before being dealt to the Twins at last month’s trade deadline. It’s the kind of admission that feels almost impossible in an era where information is currency, but it also reframes his struggles as a starting point rather than a ceiling. At just 24, Bradley still has time to turn things around — and Saturday’s encouraging outing against the Padres, when he limited them to one run over five innings, hinted at that possibility.