Diamondback’s Phenom Bradley Won’t Pitch in Majors This Year

Jul 14, 2013; Flushing , NY, USA; USA pitcher

throws a pitch in the 3rd inning of the 2013 All Star Futures Game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Top Diamondback’s pitching prospect Archie Bradley will not receive a promotion to the majors this September, GM Kevin Towers announced this morning.

“”To add him to the roster in the winter when roster spots are very valuable to us — and the team being pretty much out of contention,” Towers told reporters this morning,  “didn’t make a lot of sense.”

Kevin Towers, long respected in the baseball industry, has a sound point. The Diamondback’s were recently mathematically eliminated from winning the NL West, and they sit ten games out of a wildcard spot with only ten games to go, so there is little incentive to prematurely forfeit a prized 40-man roster spot to Bradley. That is not even mentioning the service time considerations. Calling Bradley up before the end of next April would make him eligible for free agency a year early, and a move before June would likely grant him Super 2 status and make him eligible for one more year of arbitration.

Service and roster considerations aside, Bradley would seem to merit a promotion based on his performance. The 21 year old went 14-5 with a 1.86 ERA and a 9.6 SO/9 between A+ and AA, while playing against mostly older competition. Still, Towers doesn’t seem convinced that the former first round pick’s repertoire is major league ready. “I think he still, based on what I saw and our scouts, he needs to use his secondary pitchers a little bit more,” Towers said of Bradley, who’s known for his overpowering fastball and sharp (albeit slightly wild) curve, “Really refine the curveball and the changeup.”

That being said, the young phenom’s domination of the minors has at least prompted Towers to extend an invitation for spring training, if just to create competition for the other pitchers in camp. “Competition is good,” Towers stated in reference to a potential invitation for Bradley  “I think he deserves it based on the way he’s pitched.”

Regardless of when he finally makes the Majors, Archie Bradley will be here to stay once he does. Since being taken 7th overall in the 2011 MLB draft (ahead of potential rookie of award winner, Jose Fernandez), Bradley has been universally praised by scouts and loathed by hitters. He was ranked as the 25th overall prospect in baseball two years in a row by Baseball America and reached the #11 spot on our list heading into this season. He has also managed to put together a 2.76 ERA and strikeout over a batter per inning over the course of his minor league career.