From the Collection: Bobby Bradley, 1b, Cleveland Guardians
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Card: 2014 Bowman Chrome Printing Plate
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An important lesson for anyone who follows minor league baseball: always take Arizona League stats with a grain of salt.
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Bobby Bradley was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2014 draft. Assigned to the Arizona League, he proceeded to hit the cover off the ball as an 18-year-old, winning the AZL Triple Crown with a .361 AVG, eight home runs, and 50 RBI. He had a 1.078 OPS.
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Bradley quickly became the organizations best power hitting prospects and was even briefly considering one of the top 100 prospects in the game. Like most power hitters, he struck out often. But he was capable of taking a walk. I thought he could develop into a power hitting first baseman at the major league level. Of course, my mistake was thinking that Cleveland could develop a hitter.
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From 2015-2018 Bradley averaged 26 HR a season in the minors. In 2019 he hit 33 HR at AAA Columbus, which earned him a call-up. Over 45 at-bats in the big leagues, he hit .178 with 1 HR, 20 strikeouts, 4 walks, and a .178 AVG.
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Bradley was not horrible in 2021, with 16 HR and a 100 OPS+ over 245 at-bats in Cleveland. But he still struggled to make contact and had zero defensive value. In 2022, he had a -31 OPS+ over 17 at-bats. He was sent to AAA, where his hitting didn’t improve. Considering he had zero value with his glove…not great. Brandley would be designated for assignment in May 2022 and released that August.