Archie Bradley

Bradley started the season as the Diamondbacks' closer but got dealt to the Reds at the trade deadline, where he served in a set-up capacity. As part of the Reds' final reshuffling he was non-tendered despite a good season, only to sign with the Phillies on a one-year, $6 million deal in January. He has a legitimate chance to close for his new ballclub, depending on whether new GM Dave Dombrowski brings in another hard-throwing reliever and if Bradley can beat out incumbent Hector Neris. In Bradley's favor is that his new pitching coach is Caleb Cothram, whom he worked with in his brief tenure in Cincinnati, and that he's nominally a harder thrower than Neris, though Bradley's velocity declined in 2020. He has one other big statistical advantage - he walked a mere 4.1% of the batters he faced, whereas Neris walked a whopping 12.6%.

Bradley was a good reminder that the only difference between an effective reliever and a closer is the opportunity to garner saves. Bradley eventually took over the closer role in Arizona and went on to lead the club with 18 saves while establishing a new career high in strikeout rate. His hold on the closer role will likely always be tenuous because of his splits. Bradley has his troubles against lefties; some years it is not so bad, but 2019 was all over the place. On the plus side, he struck out one-third of the left-handed hitters he faced. On the down side, he had a 5.28 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and a .267 opponents' batting average. Given his two-pitch repertoire (fastball and curve), splits will continue to plague Bradley until his recently-added changeup can become a more effective pitch. For now, his hold on the closer role is as firm as his ability to avoid a bad week of appearances.

Many see Bradley's 3.64 ERA and claim it was a disappointing season compared to the previous campaign where his ERA was 1.73. The truth is, he was fundamentally the same pitcher both seasons with nearly the same underlying skills. The difference was in 2017, Bradley allowed just four homers while surrendering nine this past season. This helped the right-hander sport a luck-driven 88.2 LOB% in 2017, compared to a more neutral 76.3% this past year. Bradley blew four saves in September, but manager Torey Lovullo said in December that he's leaning toward using him as his closer in 2019. Bradley tied for the league lead in holds with 34 and has clearly earned a good deal of trust. If he keeps the ball in the yard, he stands a good chance of holding onto the job, though there is some trade risk here now that the Diamondbacks have begun selling off pieces.

Bradley lobbied to join the bullpen out of camp, having missed out on a rotation spot during spring training, and the Diamondbacks obliged. It turned out to be a great thing for both the player and team, as Bradley established himself as a high-end reliever with a stellar 2017 campaign and was a key component of the team's wild-card run. His fastball played up much more while working in shorter spurts -- he added four miles-per-hour working in relief -- and he located better, and that allowed him to raise his K-BB to an even 20 percent (from 11.9 percent in 2016). He also added to his groundball rate, boosting it 47.8 percent, and in turn cut his home-run rate in half, bucking a league-wide trend. Bradley's 2.61 FIP ranked sixth among all pitchers with at least 70 innings. Fernando Rodney signed with Minnesota in the offseason and Bradley is a top candidate to step into the ninth-inning role. Buy.

Arizona certainly gave Bradley opportunities to impress in 2016, but the former top prospect fizzled. He finished fourth on the Diamondbacks with 141.2 innings pitched and logged 26 starts, but he recorded just 11 quality starts to go along with a bloated 5.02 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray figure to be locks for the Arizona rotation in 2017, but there's a lot of uncertainty behind those two, which means Bradley could be in line to start again. His pure stuff has always tantalized, and last year he showcased that potential with 143 strikeouts over those 141.2 innings (9.1 K/9). But Bradley will need to improve upon his 4.3 BB/9 if he wants his overall numbers to look better. As it stands, Bradley is a guy who can strike out a lot of hitters but who also allows way too many baserunners. Bradley is worth monitoring, but he hasn't proven himself to be a reliable fantasy option.

Excuse the pun, but Bradley had a snake-bitten 2015 season. The 23-year-old started the season in the MLB rotation, and was excellent out of the gate, going 2-0 in his first three starts while allowing just three earned runs over 18.2 innings. Then, in his fourth start on April 28, Bradley took a line drive off his face and fractured his right sinus. He returned to the rotation on May 16, but he wasn’t the same pitcher. In four starts in May and June, Bradley posted a 10.91 ERA, as his control disappeared, before having his season shut down due to a shoulder injury. Bradley’s prospect star has faded, but he makes for a nice post-hype sleeper, especially in deeper leagues. He was in line to earn a rotation spot out of camp, but then Arizona signed Zack Greinke and traded for Shelby Miller, meaning Bradley will likely begin the 2016 campaign back at Triple-A, where working on his command will be paramount.

Last season was supposed to be Bradley’s coming out party. As a 21-year-old, he was considered by many to be the top pitching prospect in baseball heading into spring training. However, upon his eventual assignment to Triple-A Reno to begin 2014, everyone was treated to a reminder of how volatile even the most surefire pitching prospects can be. He racked up a 5.18 ERA through five starts before getting shelved for two months with an injury to his throwing elbow. Bradley spent the rest of the season with Double-A Mobile, posting a 4.12 ERA and a shoddy 46:36 K:BB ratio in 54.2 innings. His plus-plus fastball/curveball combo and 6-foot-4, 225-pound workhorse frame will keep him on the short list of the top power righties in the minor leagues, but Bradley will need to improve his control drastically to reach his ceiling as a frontline starter. Of course, entering camp fully healthy will be a key part of that equation. Look for him to debut in the D-Backs’ rotation sometime this summer.

Bradley is the top prospect in Arizona's farm system. In 152 innings, he posted a 1.84 ERA between High-A and Double-A, with 21 of his 26 starts coming at the latter. Control is the biggest hurdle he needs to overcome, as he carried a 4.3 BB/9 with Mobile last season. Bradley throws a live, high-90s fastball, a hard-breaking knuckle curveball, and a changeup. It's expected that he'll eventually become the D-Backs' No. 1 starter, and an arrival to the big leagues could take place during the second half of 2014.

Making his full season debut, Bradley carried an impressive 10.0 K/9 over 140 innings (28 starts) at Low-A South Bend. There were occasional bouts with poor control (5.6 BB/9), but he showed signs of improvement down the stretch. In addition to a high-90s fastball, Bradley features a curveball and changeup and has proven capable of getting a significant number of his outs on the ground (1.82 GO/AO) and subsequently, keeps the ball in the park (0.45 HR/9). Drafted out of high school in 2011, the next test for Bradley should include opening the season at High-A Visalia as he'll likely need two more seasons of development in the minors before entering the conversation for a rotation spot in Arizona in late 2014 or early 2015.

Bradley passed up the opportunity to play quarterback at the University of Oklahoma to sign with the D-Backs as the seventh overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft. He was limited to rookie- and instructional-league innings after signing and will begin his full-season professional career in 2012 at Low-A South Bend. Already with a fastball that sits in the 95-98 mph range, Bradley also features a good mid-80s curveball and could move quickly for a high school product, putting him on track with a major league ETA of 2014.