If there is a team in baseball prepared to absorb a pitching injury, it’s the Tampa Bay Rays.
They have built incredible pitching depth around the entire organization and now boast Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Josh Fleming, Luis Patino, Yonny Chirinos, and the injured Shane Baz, Zach Eflin, and Tyler Glasnow.
You can go ahead and add Taj Bradley to that group.
The uber-prospect is ready to make his MLB debut for the Rays tonight.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, it’ll be just the second time since 1900 that a team on a 10+ game win streak will start a pitcher making his debut.
When Taj Bradley takes the bump for the Rays tonight, it’ll be the 2nd time since 1900 that a team on a 10+ game win streak will start a pitcher making his debut.
The Braves did it in their final game of the 1969 reg. season, losing with a 19-year-old Mike McQueen on the mound. pic.twitter.com/ZgljPkaEPV
—ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 12, 2023
If Bradley is as good as advertised, the Rays rotation will be in good shape until Eflin returns.
Perhaps Bradley pitches well enough to enter the equation once Glasnow and Eflin are healthy.
Bradley is a fastball-slider guy.
Both of those pitches are excellent, if not plus.
His changeup is a usable third pitch and has projection, and his curveball needs more work.
His control and command are both slightly above-average, which will probably give him the tools to carve out a career as a starter in the bigs.
The Rays will give him every tool he can possibly need to put him in a position to succeed.
He will be facing the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, a lineup with Rafael Devers, Masataka Yoshida, Alex Verdugo, Justin Turner, Triston Casas, Kiké Hernandez and other top hitters.
He will go against star left-handed pitcher Chris Sale in a baptism of fire.
What Bradley can show over the next few days will determine his immediate future.
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