Jackie Bradley Jr. has had three separate stints with the Boston Red Sox over the past three seasons but still has yet to stick at the big league level. With the Sox all but out of the AL East race midway thru June, it is time for the Bo-Sox to give Bradley one last shot and see once and for all what kind of player the 25-year old is. Bradley has above average speed and has a top tier arm and glove for a major league center fielder. Hindering a long term MLB career is his bat, over the course of 543 plate appearances at the major league level from 2013 to 2015, Bradley has struck out a mind-blowing 156 times, going down by way of the K nearly a third of his at-bats.
One Last Shot: Jackie Bradley Jr.
In his defense, 543 plate appearances isn’t the biggest of sample sizes and although Bradley was constantly tied up inside and late on fastballs especially during his 2014 MLB tenure, 423 PAs .198 avg., he has performed extremely well in AAA this season hitting .330. Somewhat alarming however is the fact that Bradley has still struck out 31 times in 198 plate appearances, about one SO every six PAs. Even if he still strikeouts if and when he gets back to Fenway, as long as he can keep his average up, the strikeouts become much less of an issue.
Helping Jackie Bradley Jr.’s case is the fact that the Red Sox outfield is perhaps one of the worst in baseball. After hot starts Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts have cooled off considerably, hitting .270 and .254 respectively and the revolving door in right field of Rusney Castillo, Shane Victorino, and Daniel Nava have all greatly underperformed. Along with struggling at the plate, the Red Sox outfielders, namely Ramirez, have underwhelmed defensively opening the door for Ramirez to potentially replace a struggling Mike Napoli at first. A Ramirez move to first would seemingly make room for Bradley in left field unless the everyday job would be given to super utility player Brock Holt who is leading the Red Sox in average. Because Betts has shown flashes of greatness it is unlikely Bradley takes over in CF. However, with Ramirez looking lost in left and right field being a wasteland, Bradley could stick at either corner spot.
Bradley Jr., a former first round pick out of the University of South Carolina, was sent to AAA to start this season to cut down on strikeouts and mature as a hitter. Bradley has done exactly what the Red Sox asked him to do and has most likely exceeded expectations. Putting his gold-glove caliber defense back in the outfield and giving him a last chance to show he can hit big league pitching could benefit the Red Sox in several ways.
If Bradley can indeed hit at the big league level, he could be a great player for the Red Sox for years to come or become a trade piece to add pitching to a struggling Red Sox starting staff. The promotion of Bradley could also seemingly push both Castillo and Ramirez, high priced signings, to perform better and keep their jobs. Regardless of the front office’s plans for the outfield for the future, with a team floundering and a player deserving one last shot to prove he is a big league hitter, the time is now for Jackie Bradley Jr. to rejoin the Red Sox.
