{"id":68215,"date":"2024-03-13T12:34:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T16:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=68215"},"modified":"2024-03-13T12:34:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T16:34:24","slug":"taj-bradley-shutdown-pec-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/03\/13\/taj-bradley-shutdown-pec-train\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays Right-Hander Will Not Be Ready to Start the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bradlta01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taj Bradley<\/a> undwewent an MRI after being scratched from yesterday&#8217;s spring start. Unfortunately, Bradley will open the season on the 15-day injured list following a pectroal strain. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the right-hander will be shut down from throwing for at least the next two weeks. Bradley will be reevaluated at that time. However, when he&#8217;s cleared to resume throwing, he will need to build up his workload and go on a minor league assignment.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Rays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Rays<\/a> Cash said Taj Bradley definitely won\u2019t be ready to start season. Will be shut down from throwing for at least 2 weeks then need to build back up. Will consider several in camp options to replace him in rotation.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TBTimes_Rays\/status\/1767902732160028819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Rays Shutdown Taj Bradley<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cashke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Cash<\/a> is optimistic that the injury to Bradley was caught before it became serious. Bradley&#8217;s pectoral srain is the latest of health issues for Rays pitchers. The club is among the most talented rotations in baseball but injury-filled. Bradley joins <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcclash01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shane McClanahan<\/a> (Tommy John surgery in August), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sprinje01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeffrey Springs<\/a> (Tommy John surgery in April) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rasmudr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Rasmussen<\/a> (Internabl brace surgery in July) on the injured list as they await for the return of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bazsh01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shane Baz<\/a> (Tommy John surgery in 2022).<\/p>\n<h3>Bradley&#8217;s Loss Is Not Critical<\/h3>\n<p>Bradley made his debut in 2023, turning in an even season. He finished the year with a 5.59 ERA in 104 2\/3 innings. While it wasn&#8217;t the most exciting debut, Bradley has shown his fair share of strong performances. His 28% strikeout rate is well above the league average, whereas his 8.5% walk rate is solid. He averaged a 96.2 ph on his heater as he posted better-than-average marks with an 11.3% swining-strike-rate and a 32% of opponents&#8217; chase rate. Bradley was going into the 2024 season without limitations to his innings count. A breakout season for the former top prospect is still possible.<\/p>\n<h3>Rays Thin On Rotation Depth<\/h3>\n<p>As mentioned before, Tampa Bay has one of the best rotations but the club is already thin on rotation depth. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/eflinza01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Eflin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/civalaa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Civale<\/a> and converted reliever <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/litteza01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zack Littell<\/a> will take on the top-three spots in the rotation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pepiory01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Pepiot<\/a>, who the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/11\/15\/tyler-glasnow-likely-traded-offseason\/\" target=\"_self\">Rays acquired in the<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/glasnty01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Glasnow<\/a> deal, will likely serve as the No. 4 starter on the staff. Pepiot is another highly touted pitching prospect who has excellent results in the majors. Injuries have put a halt on his ability to pitch after he started the 2023 season on the 60-day injured list with a Grade 2 oblique strain. Other rotation options include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=lopezja04,lopez-005jac,lopez-008jac,lopez-006jac&amp;search=Jacob+Lopez&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacob Lopez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=alexaty01,alexan001tyl&amp;search=Tyler+Alexander&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Alexander<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/devench02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Devenski<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: \u00a9 Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taj Bradley undwewent an MRI after being scratched from yesterday&#8217;s spring start. Unfortunately, Bradley will open the season on the 15-day injured list following a pectroal strain. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the right-hander will be shut down from throwing for at least the next two weeks. Bradley will be reevaluated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":68220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1071,35],"tags":[6280,3931,2236,5681,1333,6246,1245,6077],"class_list":["post-68215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rays","category-mlb","category-news","tag-drew-rasmussen","tag-jeffrey-springs","tag-kevin-cash","tag-ryan-pepiot","tag-shane-baz","tag-taj-bradley","tag-tyler-glasnow","tag-zach-eflin"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}