From the Collection: Bobby Bradley, if, Cleveland Indians

I have been a huge fan of Bobby Bradley since he was drafted by the Indians back in 2014 (3rd round high school pick).

He was amazing his first year in the pros, hitting .361/.426/.652 with 8 HR in the AZL and putting himself immediately on the prospect map.

The next season he hit .264/.357/.518 with 27 between Low-A and High-A and solidified his status as the Indians top power hitting prospect. He struck out a ton (150 times in 409 at-bats), but he also walked enough (57) to show that he was not just flailing around up there.

Bradley has been moving steadily towards the majors since then, advancing roughly a level per season coming into 2019. As he has moved up his power never diminished, but neither did the high K rates–through an optimistic could also note that he always had enough walks to make the power for strikeout trade-off worth it. Since 2014 he has remained one of the Indians top prospects and came into the 2019 season ranked the teams #7 overall prospect.

Then 2019 happened.

Bradley has been killing it in AAA, hitting .292//.359/.638 with 24 HR for Columbus. The big league club is in desperate need for some pop, and so Bradley got the call last night to the big leagues. In his first game, he went 1-3 with a double, walk, strikeout and showed some good defensive skills.

I don’t think he will be going anywhere soon, and really should be in the line-up every day at either DH or 1B. Assuming that he can handle and adapt to major league pitching, I think the Indians next great power hitter has arrived.