With the Cleveland Indians’ offensive woes, there has been a lot of speculation among impatient fans about bringing up certain players from the farm, most notably, slugging first baseman Bobby Bradley.
We aren’t sure that will help the Tribe, though.
First, if you read this blog enough or follow on Twitter, you know our least favorite kind of hitter, the high strikeout, low walk, low batting average guys. The pre-2019 Joey Gallo would be the poster boy for that kind of offensive player.
That said, we aren’t anti-strikeout either. Big boppers like Hall of Famer Jim Thome, and the most recent vintage left-handed hitting slugger, Travis Hafner are great offensive players.
They strikeout a lot and walk a ton, leading to both great on base percentages and slugging percentages.
Bradley is not that. This year, he has fanned 67 times at Columbus, while walking just 18 times. To us, this doesn’t show a great knowledge of the strike zone. It also shows that he is a mistake hitter.
And in the big leagues, pitchers don’t make as many mistakes.
This isn’t unusual for Bradley. A year ago, he struck out 148 times and walked just 56.
He broke out as a prospect in 2016 at Lynchburg, when he hit 29 homers and knocked in 102 runs, hitting .235. He fanned 170 times, walking 75 times.
The following year, his strikeouts went down to 122, which is good, but he still only hit .251.
His OPS in both years hovered around 800, which is good at the big league level, but this was A ball and AA ball.
This year has been his best year yet. Although Columbus is a big time hitter’s park, Bradley has a 908 OPS on the road and has belted 7 of his 16 homers away from the Clippers’ home yard.
All in all, Bradley’s career minor league numbers show a .253 batting average and an 843 OPS.
For sake of comparison, Thome had a .317 batting average and a 920 OPS in the minors. Hafner was a .298 hitter in the minors with a 918 OPS.
Another comparison would be a player currently on the Indians’ big league roster. This player had a minor league batting average of .276 and an OPS of 775.
Fans are complaining that Jake Bauers isn’t hitting in the majors and his numbers aren’t all that different.
We are firm believers in the “can’t be worse” theory in sports, and we get the argument that Bradley might be better than what Terry Francona writes in the lineup on a daily basis.
We just don’t think Bradley should be viewed as a cure all for Cleveland’s offensive problems.
The other issue is defensively. Bradley is clearly a 1B/DH. He’s never played anywhere else, and he probably can’t.
If you bring Bradley up, where does he play? If he replaces Bauers, you lose some defensive flexibility, and that was a problem when Hanley Ramirez was here.
That’s not a huge deal, but it is a factor.
We are sure the Indians want Bradley to show more control of the strike zone that he has shown, and we are also positive they have told him that.
When he does, the front office will want to take a look at him.
And the first time he comes up in a clutch situation and flails at a pitch out of the strike zone, fans will want to send him back.
It’s a conundrum to be sure. But, right now, we question whether or not Bobby Bradley will ever be a big time hitter at the big league level.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 