Will Archie Bradley Be With the Diamondbacks to Start the Season?

Archie Bradley is ready for the Majors but won’t break camp with the D’backs. Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The headline grabbed my attention:

Opinion:  Archie Bradley Not Ready for Diamondbacks Rotation

This post was written by Jason Mast at gradingonthecurve.com, a tremendous site dedicated to all Minor League news and views and is part of our FanSided network. In it (which I recommend you read by clicking here), he gave a list of reasons as to why he doesn’t feel that Archie Bradley is ready to make the rotation of the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Spring Training. One of the reasons given was a tendency for him to be a little off with his command. Jason pointed out that his walks per nine innings using peripherals was 4.3 at Double A Mobile. While he made it clear that Bradley has more upside, Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy have more dependability at the moment. However, I do think that if he is overwhelmingly good over the next six weeks to eight weeks and either Cahill or McCarthy falter, Bradley will begin 2014 in the Snakes’ rotation.

I believe Kevin Towers when he said that if the top prospect is one of the best five pitchers in Spring Training, then he will make the team. I also believe, though that Bradley has to be borderline perfect in order for this to happen. I am not sure that management will discard Cahill, who was brought in for Jarrod Parker or McCarthy, who is owed a little over $10 million dollars, unless they completely implode or start the season on the disabled list.  I do think that Bradley can handle the jump from Double A to the Majors. If you have ever heard him speak, you wouldn’t think he was only 21 years old. He has the frame (6-foot-4 and 225 pounds) of a Major League pitcher. Plus, plenty of guys from Dwight Gooden to Jose Fernandez have skipped Triple A and have had immediate success at the Big League level. I know that there is a bit of an age difference and this may make Mets’ fans roll their eyes but Bradley reminds me a little bit of Matt Harvey. Harvey didn’t have tremendous numbers in the Minors (including 20 Triple A starts) but he was doing just fine in New York until an arm injury got the better of him. Bradley and Harvey are the exact same size, have the same makeup and have the same velocity on their fastballs.

So do I think Archie Bradley breaks camp with the Diamondbacks? Like Jason, I feel the depth of the Arizona rotation is such that there is no need to get Bradley to the Majors if he is not lights-out in exhibition games.  My instinct tells me that Bradley will pitch superbly to the tune of a about a 2.25 ERA. However, Cahill and McCarthy will pitch well enough to keep their spots in the rotation. Bradley will start at Triple A Reno and be called up on May 15th. How is that for a prediction?

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