Archie Bradley Has Good Outing In Arizona Fall League Opener

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Before the 2014 season began, Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Archie Bradley was ranked no.5 overall, and he was considered the minors top pitcher accoutering to MLB.com rankings.

The Diamondbacks had lost out on the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes but everybody from scouts to Dbacks executives were convinced that they had an ace in the making in Bradley.

He was so impressive in 2013, that the Dbacks considered calling him up, but they instead opted to give him an invite to spring training.

He competed for the fifth starters spot with Randall Delgado and lost so he spent his 2014 season in the minors.

He started out the season in Triple A with the Reno Aces, and his first two starts were promising. He fired five shutout innings in his debut, and he followed that up with with seven innings of two run ball.

However, it just went downhill from there. Over his next three starts (12 1/3 innings), he allowed 12 runs, and was shut down due to an elbow strain.

In 12 starts for Double A Mobile, he went 2-3 with a 4.12 era. The issue with Bradley has always been his control.

Those issues continued last season as he struggled to throw strikes. In 54.2 innings pitched he struck out 46 batters while walking 36. He walked 5.3 per nine innings in 2014, which was up from 4.1 in 2013.

Thanks to his struggles in 2014, Bradley fell to the 9th best prospect on MLB.com’s top 100 prospects list.

I don’t know if there is any pitching prospect that has more to prove during this year’s Arizona Fall League than Bradley.

Last night all eyes were on him and Pirates top pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow as the Salt River Rafters hosted the Scottsdale Scorpions at Salt River Fields as part of Opening Day in the AZL.

Bradley went three innings giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits while walking one and throwing 41 pitches. He struggled with his control at times but overall it was a good outing for him. His curveball was working, and he had life on his fastball. His defense didn’t exactly help him.

Meanwhile, Diamondbacks catching prospect Peter O’Brien shined. O’Brien who is ranked as the no.7 Dbacks prospect, went 1-2 with a home run, and two RBI’s in the Rafters 7-4 win over the Scottsdale Scorpions.

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