Diamondbacks: Archie Bradley needs to be in the majors
By Cody Fincher
The Arizona Diamondbacks have had some issues with pitching this season, both from the starting rotation and the bullpen. After a big offseason, where they acquired both Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller, Arizona’s pitching staff was supposed to add balance to its offense, which was top five in the majors last season. But so far, it hasn’t really lived up to all the hype. But I’m not going to focus much on the guys in the majors, but rather one pitcher who isn’t.
In 2015, Archie Bradley won the fifth spot in the starting rotation coming out of Spring Training and did quite well in his first few starts, which included a victory against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers in his major league debut. But that success was short-lived when Bradley was struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. This one instance completely derailed Bradley’s great start to the season after he could not get back into form when his stint on the disabled list ended. Most of that was mental and who could blame him.
But that was last year and now we move on to Spring Training 2016, where Bradley had a chance to win the fifth spot in the rotation once again. Unfortunately for Bradley, he lost out to Robbie Ray, which ended up being a no-brainer. Bradley struggled this spring, going 2-1 with a 9.00 ERA in four games pitched (two starts) and the job was given to Ray. So Bradley found himself being sent down to Triple-A Reno, which had to be a let down. My point to all this is that it’s time for the Diamondbacks to give Archie Bradley his chance in the majors.
Bradley has been in Arizona’s minor league system since 2011 and while the common opinion is that the minor leagues always make young guys better, that may not be the case here. Bradley has proven he can pitch in the major leagues and yet, he is down in the minors more often than not.
Yes, I understand that he didn’t have a good Spring Training, but neither did Rubby De La Rosa and he is in the rotation. I believe that Bradley will improve more while pitching in the majors than he will pitching in the minor leagues. Sometimes, you have to let guys figure things out against major league hitters.
Bradley is in a spot right now where he can dominate minor league hitters based on just his stuff that he throws, but throwing your fastball by hitters doesn’t always work in the big leagues. He needs to learn how to actually pitch to major league hitters.
Bradley turns 24 years old in August, so the clock is ticking on him. And while age 24 is nowhere near old, letting him sit in the minor leagues is a waste. You want to get as much out of Bradley’s arm as you can and I feel that it is time to let him help the major league club now.
Yes, the Diamondbacks coaching staff has to do what they think will win the most games, but that hasn’t really worked out so far with De La Rosa and Ray struggling almost every time they take the mound.
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It’s time for the Diamondbacks to make the decision of whether they want Bradley to be a part of their future plans. If not, then maybe it’s time to see what they could get for him in the trade market.