Tampa Bay Rays: Taj Bradley is worthy of being in starting rotation

Tampa Bay Rays prospect Taj Bradley has made a spectacular start to life in the big leagues. Injuries to starting pitchers Zach Eflin and Jeffrey Springs have given the 22-year-old two starts, and Bradley has more than justified the faith with two excellent outings.

Debuting against the Boston Red Sox, Bradley pitched five innings for five hits and three runs with eight strikeouts. Against the Cincinnati Reds, Bradley conjured 5.1 IP with just three hits and nine strikeouts to help shut out the home team as the Rays won 10-0.

Taj Bradley has put together an impressive set of numbers from his first two outings. According to Baseball Savant, Bradley’s ERA is 2.61 with 0.97 WHIP. Add to that, 2.9 inches of vertical movement above the average, which is the eighth-best of the season so far. Bradley has relied on four pitches with a fastball (49.1%), cutter (28.6%), changeup (12.4%), and curveball (9.9%). In addition, a swing strike rate of 13% and a whiff rate of 29.3% sees Bradley causing many problems so far. His fastball averages at 95.8mph to add to his armoury.

Bradley’s hot start has seen him retained in the rotation for the foreseeable future while the Tampa Bay Rays pitching injuries pile up. With Shane Baz already being done for the season, Springs’ injury and expected Tommy John surgery looks to have done for him. Tyler Glasnow’s oblique injury is keeping him out of the rotation, and Zach Eflin could return in days against the Chicago White Sox. In the meantime, Bradley’s rookie season sees him firmly on the mound, and he is lined up to face the Houston Astros next week.

With a mound appearance against the Astros, the current World Series champions, comes a far stiffer examination. The Rays have found it difficult against the Astros in the recent past. In the last six meetings, the Astros have prevailed in five of those games, including a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field last September.

As good as 2023 has been so far for the Rays, they have found a team with a record greater than .500 an issue. The Toronto Blue Jays prevailed in the series 2-1 as well as preventing a history-making win. The Astros will also bring stronger opposition than some of the Rays’ opponents so far this season.

Taj Bradley will be facing lefties Yordan Álvarez and Kyle Tucker, and his data shows that left-handed batters have been more successful against him. Lefties have prevailed at .235, while right-handers have been less successful with .190. Yet to be homered against, Bradley will face an aggressive batting lineup. The Astros will look to put pressure on him early with batters on bases. However, Bradley has been impressive so far and looks ready for his test.