Enrique Bradfield Jr. 2024

[baltfan]

27 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

And you’ve determined Bradfields swing is ineffective after 13-14 games?   Good for you.

He wasn’t exactly lighting it up in college either.  Every scouting report and every prospect review says the swing is a problem, yet I am am the one that is speaking out of school to say that it is while you are the sane one for saying it’s fine?

[RZNJ]

3 minutes ago, baltfan said:

He wasn’t exactly lighting it up in college either.  Every scouting report and every prospect review says the swing is a problem, yet I am am the one that is speaking out of school to say that it is while you are the sane one for saying it’s fine?

 

3 minutes ago, baltfan said:

He wasn’t exactly lighting it up in college either.  Every scouting report and every prospect review says the swing is a problem, yet I am am the one that is speaking out of school to say that it is while you are the sane one for saying it’s fine?

Every scouting report?   Minus this Baseball America pre draft write up.

“Bradfield has tormented batteries with his blazing speed since his prep days with American Heritage High in Plantation, Fla., where he ranked as the No. 66 player in the 2020 class. Since getting to campus at Vanderbilt, he’s lived up to his reputation as a dynamic, disruptive speedster and lockdown center fielder who has hit .313/.427/.450 in 190 games with 130 stolen bases at a 90.9% success rate. Bradfield is a lean and skinny, 6-foot-1, 170-pound lefthanded hitter who has a level bat path that’s conducive to line drives and ground balls. He has a strong understanding of the strike zone and has walked at a 14.7% rate, struck out at a 13.5% rate and in 2023 made contact at an 87% rate. Brafield projects as a 30-grade power hitter in pro ball, but has sneaky exit velocities—an 87 mph average exit velocity in 2023—considering his size and overall home run production. Bradfield is an 80-grade runner who should pepper ground balls, line drives and drop bunts for infield singles, with consistently high BABIP numbers and elite baserunning. His speed translates to center field, where he’s also a top-of-the-scale defender who covers massive swaths of ground, with great instincts albeit a below-average arm. Bradfield has a polarizing profile and has much less power than the average first round college outfielder, but he’s also a potential Gold Glove winner and stolen base champion who earns Juan Pierre comps.“

[Rbiggs2525]

He will always have the speed and the glove. We have this season and next with Mullins. I know we are used to our first round picks hitting the cover off the ball to start there career. We can be patient with this one. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

And you’ve determined Bradfields swing is ineffective after 13-14 games?   Good for you.

It’s silly to be judging Bradfield at this stage.  I don’t know if he’ll be good or not, but I know you need to give him a couple of months at least before you have any clue.

[sportsfan8703]

Everyone struggles in Aberdeen at first. Look at Gunnar, Westburg, Cowser, and Beaver’s stats there. All the lowest compared to the other stops. 

[glenn__davis]

He was the 17th pick with blazing speed and great defense.  If he was a great hitter also he wouldn't have been the 17th pick.

Gonna take some time and it may or may not be a pick that works out.  Still on the first chapter of the book that will be his pro baseball career.

[Tony-OH]

I'll echo the folks that say it's way too early to draw any conclusions on the bat. While his start this year has not been very impressive, let's have the assessment conversation at the end of the year. Cowser looked really ugly in Aberdeen in his first 44 games there in his first full minor league season slashing .236/.386/.363/.749 with a 36 BB - 62 K ratio in 197 PAs.

 

[CaptainRedbeard]

Bradfield has a .268 BABIP right now. Would this conversation even be happening if he’d just had more balls in play end up singles, as you would expect from a 80 grade runner who never hits fly balls?  We don’t have any publicly available info to conclude what his exit velos look like.

He actually has a decent (relative to expectations for him) .098 ISO with 3 2B and a 3B, plus still quite good K/BB. 

[RZNJ]

12 hours ago, Rbiggs2525 said:

He will always have the speed and the glove. We have this season and next with Mullins. I know we are used to our first round picks hitting the cover off the ball to start there career. We can be patient with this one. 

 Cowser got off to a terrible start.  Kjerstad was pretty bad during his time in Aberdeen.   Westburg went through some awful slumps.  

[Ridgway22]

I have nothing to back this up... but.... 

I'm strictly guessing, but have to imagine they are working on tweaking his swing / stance / approach, etc. The O's knew exactly who he is when they drafted him, and must have seen something they can work with. Anyone who has ever played can relate to the difficulty of a combination of trying to change something that has been muscle memory for years, while simultaneously facing a higher level of competition.

This, combined with the O's recent success in developing hitters, and the small sample size, encourages me to have patience.

[sportsfan8703]

22 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I'll echo the folks that say it's way too early to draw any conclusions on the bat. While his start this year has not been very impressive, let's have the assessment conversation at the end of the year. Cowser looked really ugly in Aberdeen in his first 44 games there in his first full minor league season slashing .236/.386/.363/.749 with a 36 BB - 62 K ratio in 197 PAs.

 

Yup. This is exactly what I was think. Everyone was so down on Cowser then once he got to Bowie his numbers came up. Even Gunnar’s magical year, he had his lowest numbers in Aberdeen. EBJ will be ok and will be in Bowie for the 2nd half of the season. The expectations of how fast he would move were too high. 

It’s looking like we’ll probably just let Mullins play out his contract like Santa. So that means EBJ’s timeline is just fine,

May - June 24’ - Aberdeen

July - Sept 24’ - Bowie

ST 25’ - one of the last cuts

OD 25’ - Norfolk

OD 26’ - Baltimore 

[Frobby]

I think Bradfield is less likely to be negatively affected by Aberdeen than other players mentioned here like Cowser, because he’s not a power hitter.  His game is slashing the ball for singles and occasional doubles, and beating out grounders, and getting on base via walks.  Those things aren’t affected by the ballpark in the way that long fly balls are.  So, I’m not going to buy “well, it’s Aberdeen.”

At the same time, Bradfield hasn’t played enough games for me to start worrying. He’s at a point in this year where he could have two good games back to back and his numbers would suddenly look very good.  His K rate is good, his BB rate is good, he just needs a few more hits to fall in.  It’s too soon to have any concerns.  
 

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I think Bradfield is less likely to be negatively affected by Aberdeen than other players mentioned here like Cowser, because he’s not a power hitter.  His game is slashing the ball for singles and occasional doubles, and beating out grounders, and getting on base via walks.  Those things aren’t affected by the ballpark in the way that long fly balls are.  So, I’m not going to buy “well, it’s Aberdeen.”

At the same time, Bradfield hasn’t played enough games for me to start worrying. He’s at a point in this year where he could have two good games back to back and his numbers would suddenly look very good.  His K rate is good, his BB rate is good, he just needs a few more hits to fall in.  It’s too soon to have any concerns.  
 

From what I've understand, the issue is less about park dimensions but about the batting eye behind CF.  So it could have an impact on any type of hitter.

[Tony-OH]

15 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

From what I've understand, the issue is less about park dimensions but about the batting eye behind CF.  So it could have an impact on any type of hitter.

I've kind of heard the same thing. It's not just a lack of power that regresses in Aberdeen, but the K-BB ratio have typically been among the worse for the players who eventually made the big leagues (Gunnar, Adley, Cowser, Westburg) and had success.

[Frobby]

16 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

From what I've understand, the issue is less about park dimensions but about the batting eye behind CF.  So it could have an impact on any type of hitter.

I have heard that about the batters’ eye, but I’ve also heard the ball doesn’t travel well there.   Also, I’ve read that the lighting there is poor.  So it’s several things.  None of which bothered Jackson Holliday.