Atlanta Braves New Acquisition Scouting Report: Jed Bradley
Scouting Report
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Bradley has a great frame at 6’3 and 225 pounds from the left side. He works with a sinking fastball that sits in the 90-94 range as a starter, but has worked more in the 93-95 range as a reliever, topping out at 97. He uses the fastball in multiple ways, with his primary fastball being a sinker, but he also cuts his fastball, and the cut fastball usually works more in the low-90s range. He has a very solid change up that mirrors the sink he gets on his fastball. His breaking pitch is a slider that gets very good late depth.
Bradley now throws purely out of the stretch, even when he started part of a double-header on June 17th. He has a compact, quick delivery to the plate with a 3/4 arm slot that in my viewing seemed to be very consistent.
One thing that I noted in his pitching was that when his slider came into play, he had a more lengthened arm path, even in the stretch. I wonder if that could be the biggest issue with him as a starter, as his 3/4 delivery does show the pitch for a surprisingly long amount of time for a delivery that isn’t dipping below shoulder depth.
Bradley works best when he’s low in the zone with all of his pitches. His cut fastball is his best offering above the belt as he can cut the ball to either side of the plate, though he does much better cutting arm side.
Bradley does stay low in his delivery, using his legs well, which is why you’ve not heard of him having arm issues in his career, but he also doesn’t get the traditional position of being tall over the ball that most sinker/slider guys want to go for. The stretch does seem to help him generate more of that angle for him.
Next: Future outlook