Kyle Bradish 2021

[Tony-OH]

On 10/2/2021 at 11:14 AM, Just Regular said:

I think Crash Davis called this kind of a dubious distinction, but Bradish made it solidly into the Top 50 of AAA East innings pitched.   His standings among that Top 50 cohort.

Estimated K-BB%: 10th    (a touch ahead of Liberatore and Garrett among prospect names I recognized logging real time there this year)

K%: 4th    (lagging only Jackson Kowar, Mark Leiter and Cory Abbott)

BB%: 37th     (Deivi Garcia last by a bunch...awful year for one of the few young Yankees I've worried about at times)

H/9 about 50th percentile, HR/9 about 80th percentile, maybe with Harbor Park helping him.

Kudos to Matt Blood orchestrating a seriously faithful carbon copy:

Bradish 2019: 24 games, 101.0 IP, 1757 pitches, 120/53 K/BB

Bradish 2021: 24 games, 100.1 IP, 1771 pitches, 131/44 K/BB   (10 unit improvements both categories again next year, please!)

For several years from now, if 200 IP, 250 K, 100 BB can be done in one baseball season not two, it might resemble a somewhat worse Chris Archer 2018.   That was only 70 walks - darned FIP nobody any good walks 100 anymore.

 

 

This is an honest question. What did Matt Blood have to do with Bradish's similar years?

[Tony-OH]

On 10/2/2021 at 2:58 PM, Sports Guy said:

I thought he leaped Baumann but then Baumann started looking good only to fade again.

Maybe Baumann will be a lot better next year but for now, I think Bradish has easily jumped over him.

I think they are a lot closer than you think. They're both probably heading to relief though I still hold out some hope for Bradish as a starter.

[Just Regular]

5 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

This is an honest question. What did Matt Blood have to do with Bradish's similar years?

In part the comment was just having fun with Blood's particular fandom, but I do think he controlled the number of turns, and pitches/turn (as I would expect the org to do for all the important pitchers).   The results are Bradish's.

Maybe after COVID gap, it was a nice simple yardstick.   Certainly agree nobody knows exactly the Do's/Don'ts after a healthy year off.

I am curious to see the Orioles plan to grow him and Rodriguez past 70 pitches/turn.   It did feel a little odd Rodriguez didn't even get the onesies twosies games up closer to 100 pitches like he did in 2019.

[Just Regular]

Melewski helping pass the time during abundant World Series breaks in the action.

I think I hear the pitcher throwing a little shade on the AAA baseball for his curve not working great this year.   He also offered the change-up, a new pitch for him, was featured in the second half.   That's probably key for him becoming more than a 2-pitch reliever if he can.

 

[Ruzious]

So, over the years - from 2019 in the minors to now - his average fastball has gone from roughly 90 to 95 - mainly from weight lifting and cleaning up his mechanics.  His fastball also has some cut to it - adding late movement.  Feels very confident in his slider, but not with his curve - because of the grip on the new ball.  Like JR said, sounds like continued development of his changeup is a big key.     

Looking at his game log, look how he finished the season - In his last 6 games - a total of 33 K's and only 6 W's - that's huge, imo - especially getting the W's down.  He absolutely crushed it at Bowie to start the season - in 3 games had 26 K's and only 5 W's.  It's the middle of the season that was the problem.  No doubt, a lot of that was getting used to different balls.  Seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders - he reminds me of TJ Oshie of the Caps - which is a good thing.         

 

[LookinUp]

I have to wonder if Bradish's late season surge has Tony reconsidering his thoughts that he's probably headed for relief.

Sounds like an exciting arm to me right now. 

[jamalshw]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

I have to wonder if Bradish's late season surge has Tony reconsidering his thoughts that he's probably headed for relief.

Sounds like an exciting arm to me right now. 

I'm optimistic about Bradish. I don't know if he ends up in the rotation or the pen, but I expect him to have an impact. We, of course, need a couple other arms to turn into starters besides just Rodriguez and Hall even if we intend to buy one or two in free agency when we are ready to compete. I think Bradish has about as good a chance as any of the guys we have (at least in the upper minors). 

[UMDTerrapins]

I'd be very happy to see him stick as a starter. If he can improve his command, and the changeup he's developing becomes an effective part of his arsenal, I don't see why that can't happen. Two pretty big ifs though. He strikes me as a guy who could be a dependable innings eater. He's got a big frame, and that over the top delivery will put less torque on his elbow than most traditional arm angles (though it will put more stress on his shoulder). It's funny to hear in that Melewski interview, that others have compared his delivery to Palmer, cause I did the same thing early in the season. Worth noting that Palmer got almost 4000 innings out of his over the top delivery. Perhaps Bradish's strength training puts some attention to building up strength in the muscles around his shoulder? I expect he'll start the season back in AAA with an emphasis placed on his command, but one of the first promotions waiting to happen. 

[LookinUp]

I don't mean to stir the pot because I know nothing about him, but I get the feeling that he has a sour attitude. 

I get the feeling that he thinks he's really good and was very frustrated with the ball in AAA this year. I hope he's right about the first part and gets over the second part. Lol.

[Sports Guy]

Well, this is the ball you will get in the majors, so he better get over it.

[Cavspider]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Well, this is the ball you will get in the majors, so he better get over it.

I may have misheard him, but I thought he was complaining about the inconsistencies of the AAA balls between different AAA affiliates as much as the difference between the AA and AAA balls.

[LookinUp]

21 minutes ago, Cavspider said:

I may have misheard him, but I thought he was complaining about the inconsistencies of the AAA balls between different AAA affiliates as much as the difference between the AA and AAA balls.

Correct. That was news to me and I can understand how that would be frustrating. It's not just that the ball was different, it's that the ball was different within AAA.

[Frobby]

21 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Correct. That was news to me and I can understand how that would be frustrating. It's not just that the ball was different, it's that the ball was different within AAA.

Shouldn’t be, but what do I know?

[Ruzious]

57 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Correct. That was news to me and I can understand how that would be frustrating. It's not just that the ball was different, it's that the ball was different within AAA.

Right.  He mentioned there were several different balls.  But the proof was in the pudding - He finished the season very strongly, so presumably he was able to get used to the ball he'll be using in MLB.  Tbh, if some are trying to paint him having a bad attitude from that interview... I think that's an enormous stretch.   

[Ruzious]

Just now, Ruzious said:

Right.  He mentioned there were several different balls.  But the proof was in the pudding - He finished the season very strongly, so presumably he was able to get used to the ball he'll be using in MLB - and he probably knew not to go to his curveball while his changeup improved.  Tbh, if some are trying to paint him having a bad attitude from that interview... I think that's an enormous stretch.