2023 1st Round Pick (#17): Enrique Bradfield Jr. - CF - (Jr) Vanderbilt University

[Gurgi]

This kid sounds smart and has a smooth way of talking.  I can see him doing TV after  his career is over.  Which might be 15 years from now.   

He sounds like a nice kid.  I am very impressed so far.  If he can hit .270 in the majors he will be an allstar for a long time.  

[emmett16]

On 7/18/2023 at 8:52 PM, Sports Guy said:

He went to Vanderbilt. I would expect him to be well spoken and highly intelligent…which is so great to have on the baseball field. Such an underrated thing imo.

Not to Elias.  It’s extremely high on his list. 

[Frobby]

I really like Bradfield’s personality based on what I’ve seen.  Just hope he’s got the game to match.  

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I really like Bradfield’s personality based on what I’ve seen.  Just hope he’s got the game to match.  

Look at the batting average of Fabian, Beavers, and Rhodes the year we drafted them.  Jokes were made about drafting players who didn’t even hit .300 in college.   I can’t wait to see how they develop this kid.  He’s way ahead of where Beavers and Fabian were before we got them.

[LookinUp]

14 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Look at the batting average of Fabian, Beavers, and Rhodes the year we drafted them.  Jokes were made about drafting players who didn’t even hit .300 in college.   I can’t wait to see how they develop this kid.  He’s way ahead of where Beavers and Fabian were before we got them.

I liked his swings in the indoor cage video that's out there much more than the swings he took at Camden Yards this week. I'm sure they'll be reworking him just like these other two. 

[CharmCityHokie]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

I liked his swings in the indoor cage video that's out there much more than the swings he took at Camden Yards this week. I'm sure they'll be reworking him just like these other two. 

I personally am not taking anything away from the swings at Camden Yards on his intro day; kid had to be exhausted and he had a bunch of big leaguers standing around him asking him if he'd hit one out of the park yet, so I'm sure he wasn't thinking much about his mechanics. That being said, he seems more than eager and if they want him to work on something he definitely seems like a guy who will take to it and give it the best he can. 

[btdart20]

The Board | FanGraphs Baseball

Longenhagen released his updated org rankings with the draftees.  EBJ slots in at #11.  Seems about right even I quibble with some ahead/behind him.

Highest pitcher from the draft is Lord at #16.  Baumeister down at #31.

Horvath #22.

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, btdart20 said:

The Board | FanGraphs Baseball

Longenhagen released his updated org rankings with the draftees.  EBJ slots in at #11.  Seems about right even I quibble with some ahead/behind him.

Highest pitcher from the draft is Lord at #16.  Baumeister down at #31.

Horvath #22.

Those rankings are interesting and a little bizarre, especially the ETAs assigned to various players.  For example, he’s got Bradfield sandwiched between Beavers and Fabian, but Bradfield’s ETA is 2025 while Beavers (already at Aberdeen) and Fabian (already at Bowie) have an ETA of 2027.  Honestly, if he thinks Bradfield is good enough to leapfrog those two and reach the majors two years ahead of them although he’s a year behind them now, you’d think he’d have Bradfield rated considerably higher.  

Edited July 26, 2023 by Frobby

[btdart20]

10 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Those rankings are interesting and a little bizarre, especially the ETAs assigned to various players.  For example, he’s got Bradfield sandwiched between Beavers and Fabian, but Bradfield’s ETA is 2025 while Beavers (already at Aberdeen) and Fabian (already at Bowie) have an ETA of 2027.  Honestly, if he thinks Bradfield is good enough to leapfrog those two and reach the majors two years ahead of them although he’s a year behind them now, you’d think he’d have Bradfield rated considerably higher.  

Disregard the ETA.  It's not really when he thinks they'll arrive.  He has a disclaimer on how he gets to that number but I can't find it.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, btdart20 said:

Disregard the ETA.  It's not really when he thinks they'll arrive.  He has a disclaimer on how he gets to that number but I can't find it.

He used to do it based on when they had to be on the 40 man roster or something like that.  But he’s clearly not doing that for Bradfield.  I don’t see how his ETA jumps Beavers or Fabian unless he’s applying actual judgment to the situation.   There’s no standard protocol that gets you there.  

[baltfan]

I hope I am wrong but Bradfield’s swing worries me.  I guess he is elite in the field, but even that is tempered by a noodle arm.  

[RZNJ]

5 hours ago, baltfan said:

I hope I am wrong but Bradfield’s swing worries me.  I guess he is elite in the field, but even that is tempered by a noodle arm.  

Neither thing worries me.  Looking forward to see what he looks like at this time next year.  Plenty to work with there.   

[Tony-OH]

On 7/10/2023 at 12:28 PM, RZNJ said:

I find it hard to slot him in higher than #8 on our top ten prospects list at this point.   That says a lot about our system.

That's where he's going for me once he plays. That's not a knock on him but the strength of the guys 1-7 on the list. Westburg and Cowser should graduate though by Mid-August.

[Tony-OH]

15 hours ago, baltfan said:

I hope I am wrong but Bradfield’s swing worries me.  I guess he is elite in the field, but even that is tempered by a noodle arm.  

The only thing that makes me feel a little better about Bradford's arm is how bad Mullins' was at one time then it became at least playable in CF. I'm hoping they can help him unleash a little more of that arm because if not he's going to need cut off guys to go out very deep.

[Gurgi]

Maybe he develops the skills to play super shallow like Paul Blair and that makes a weak arm not as important.