Enrique Bradfield Jr. 2024

[RZNJ]

10 minutes ago, Frobby said:

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.  

Or Basallo.

[Gurgi]

10 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

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.

Well how hard is it to get a decent black mesh net like old Memorial Stadium?  What do they have there now?

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Gurgi said:

Well how hard is it to get a decent black mesh net like old Memorial Stadium?  What do they have there now?

To my understanding, it is mesh but not tightly woven enough to block out the setting sun, so light gets through and bothers the batters.  Most batter’s eyes are a solid wall.  

[Frobby]

A Bradfield-esque game today.  Scored the winning run by hitting a double, stealing 3B and scoring on an overthrow.   Havoc on the bases.   Also, made a catch and threw out a runner at 2B trying to advance on the catch.  

[RZNJ]

Bradfield has a tendency to be aggressive on the bases to the point of being reckless.  He reminds me of a little leaguer who just keeps running until someone tags him out.

He led off the game tonight with an absolute laser over the RF’s head one hop off the wall.   The RF played it clean and hit the cutoff man out in shallow center.   I’ve never seen a runner thrown out by that much.   Bradfield was halfway between 2nd and 3rd when the 3B caught the ball.   Solid hit but it was an embarrassing display of base running.

[EdwinRip]

This guy needs to have excellent baseball instincts with his skill set.

[Gurgi]

39 minutes ago, EdwinRip said:

This guy needs to have excellent baseball instincts with his skill set.

Hopefully he will learn everything he needs to learn and come up to Baltimore and really show us the PEAK Bradfield.

[Dunk35]

I struggle to see it with this kid. He is 22 and has a .650 OPS in High A. He can have great defense and speed tools but his hit tool just is so far away. 
 

There are several guys on his own team with better numbers at younger ages. Guys like Etzel, Jalen Vasquez, Josenberger all with better numbers at younger ages. 
 

Its a long year so hopefully he turns it on but he needs to be producing at this age in A ball. 

[Rbiggs2525]

9 hours ago, Dunk35 said:

I struggle to see it with this kid. He is 22 and has a .650 OPS in High A. He can have great defense and speed tools but his hit tool just is so far away. 
 

There are several guys on his own team with better numbers at younger ages. Guys like Etzel, Jalen Vasquez, Josenberger all with better numbers at younger ages. 
 

Its a long year so hopefully he turns it on but he needs to be producing at this age in A ball. 

Aberdeen has been tough on a lot of hitters. A lot of prospects struggle to get adjusted there. Cowser had a 795 OPS there and then went to Bowie for 1000 OPS. 

[RZNJ]

I will say I’m encouraged by the way he’s swinging the bat the last few games when I’ve seen an AB or 2.   He looks to be getting a good swing off most of the time.  Not slappy but generating some good bat speed to the naked eye.  Also hitting the ball where it’s pitched.    I’ve seen him drive, not slap, a ball into LF, line one back up the middle, and the double to RF last night.  I’m cautiously optimistic.

[CaptainRedbeard]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

I will say I’m encouraged by the way he’s swinging the bat the last few games when I’ve seen an AB or 2.   He looks to be getting a good swing off most of the time.  Not slappy but generating some good bat speed to the naked eye.  Also hitting the ball where it’s pitched.    I’ve seen him drive, not slap, a ball into LF, line one back up the middle, and the double to RF last night.  I’m cautiously optimistic.

And that’s more reflected in his numbers now, he’s up to a .115 ISO, which is pretty good for a guy that’s not going to hit home runs. Plus the 12.5 BB% and 16.7 K%.

It remains just the lack of singles / low BABIP that are dragging him down, which is hopefully just a small sample thing - especially since he’s hitting the ball with enough authority for the extra base hits. 

[baltfan]

35 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

And that’s more reflected in his numbers now, he’s up to a .115 ISO, which is pretty good for a guy that’s not going to hit home runs. Plus the 12.5 BB% and 16.7 K%.

It remains just the lack of singles / low BABIP that are dragging him down, which is hopefully just a small sample thing - especially since he’s hitting the ball with enough authority for the extra base hits. 

I sure hope you are correct.  Mullins will need to be replaced eventually 

[Moose Milligan]

10 hours ago, Dunk35 said:

I struggle to see it with this kid. He is 22 and has a .650 OPS in High A. He can have great defense and speed tools but his hit tool just is so far away. 
 

There are several guys on his own team with better numbers at younger ages. Guys like Etzel, Jalen Vasquez, Josenberger all with better numbers at younger ages. 
 

Its a long year so hopefully he turns it on but he needs to be producing at this age in A ball. 

I think this is a case where OPS might not be the best metric to determine the player.  He's not a power hitter, he's probably not going to be any kind of a power hitter.  I'm not saying he's Ichiro but Ichiro's career OPS was .757...and I don't think that really encapsulates what that guy brought to the table.  

What to look for, I believe, is what RZNJ has taken note of, that he's not slapping the ball but he's actually driving it to parts of the ballpark.  That, and his walk rate/OBP.  Right now, there's a .100ish separation between his batting average and his on base percentage.  That's fantastic.

So many times we look at what players aren't instead of what they are.  Bradfield was drafted for his elite speed in the field and on the bases and that he's got a good eye at the plate.  He was never advertised as a power hitter, it's unlikely he'll ever have a lot of pop.  And that's okay if he can get on base at a good clip because if he's on base he can do damage.  

That's all to get back to my original point, I don't think OPS is the correct metric to measure him by when half of that metric isn't part of his game.

[LookinUp]

10 hours ago, Dunk35 said:

I struggle to see it with this kid. He is 22 and has a .650 OPS in High A. He can have great defense and speed tools but his hit tool just is so far away. 
 

There are several guys on his own team with better numbers at younger ages. Guys like Etzel, Jalen Vasquez, Josenberger all with better numbers at younger ages. 
 

Its a long year so hopefully he turns it on but he needs to be producing at this age in A ball. 

I actually tend to agree re: having skepticism, but I think a little perspective is in order.

The O's knew the hitting profile they were drafting. They just drafted him in the middle of last summer. He's in his first full year of minor league ball. He's playing in a league where a lot of our guys have struggled. Everyone knew significant swing changes were part of his plan. Even with all of that backdrop, as others have pointed out, he's not really doing that bad.

So we're less than a year out (much less in baseball days) and we're going to start drawing conclusions about a guy we knew had to develop? At this point, I think Bradfield and the O's deserve a grace period to let the kid develop. It's just waaaaay too early to draw any conclusions, IMO. I've never seen Kenny Lofton potential, but that doesn't mean he can't turn into a first division CF for many years.

[Moose Milligan]

13 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Bradfield has a tendency to be aggressive on the bases to the point of being reckless.  He reminds me of a little leaguer who just keeps running until someone tags him out.

He led off the game tonight with an absolute laser over the RF’s head one hop off the wall.   The RF played it clean and hit the cutoff man out in shallow center.   I’ve never seen a runner thrown out by that much.   Bradfield was halfway between 2nd and 3rd when the 3B caught the ball.   Solid hit but it was an embarrassing display of base running.

This sounds reckless or maybe he's just that high on his speed that he thinks he can leg anything out.  And that he's playing against better competition than he did in college.  Maybe in college he makes it to third because the RF doesn't gather it cleanly, hit the cutoff, etc.  

Or maybe he's just that reckless.