I’m going to quote the relevant info about Archie Bradley, but there’s a lot of good info at Prospect Scott’s Archie Bradley fantasy. Specifically, about why they moved on from Trevor Bauer and it had nothing to do with Kevin Towers predilection of getting rid of Kraut pitchers. “Goodbye, Max Scherzer, you have discussed lederhosen for the last time!” Prospect Scott said this about Archie Bradley, “Standing 6-4, 225, Bradley is an intimidating presence on the mound, bringing his fastball in the mid-upper-90s and changing speeds with an outstanding power breaking ball. The fastball-curve combo misses plenty of bats, as evidenced by the 20-year-old’s career 10.6 K/9. The fastball, in particular, is an elite pitch, a plus-plus weapon that he delivers with ease on a difficult downward angle. Judging by stuff alone, Bradley is one of the best arms in the minors, a top-5 guy. Command and control troubles, however, have so far delayed his breakout. In his first full season of pro ball in 2012, Bradley posted 3.84 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP across 136 IP in the Midwest League. He allowed only 87 hits in those innings, but his 84 walks were awful, likewise were the 17 wild pitches. Not as awful as any correspondence I’ve had with Grey. Why does Grey end every email with ‘Love, peace and hair grease?’ What a tool.” Hey, what’s the big idea? Bradley’s ERA in Double-A last year was 1.97. Hello, beautiful, what’s your name? His K-rate was 8.68. I like when you touch me there. His walk rate was 4.31. Oh. Well, there’s always something. So, what can we expect of Archie Bradley for 2014 fantasy baseball?
Archie reminds me of Taijuan, only rawer. BTW, try to say rawer out loud and not sound like a lion. Yeah, you can’t. Is it me or does it seem the nastier a guy’s stuff is the less control they have over it? It’s like if a hitter doesn’t know where a pitch is going, then the pitcher probably doesn’t either. Another guy Bradley reminds me of is Max Scherzer. It took Scherzer six years to figure out where his pitches were going. Member all of those years I loved Scherzer and he was frustrating to own? Because I love stuff and you just never know when the control is going to come. Bradley’s control could come this year. More than likely, it’ll come in another year or two. He’s only 21 years old. If he doesn’t figure out control until age 24, he’ll still have plenty of time to rack up Cy Young awards, but will be useless for fantasy for another three years. So, I love him like his momma, but there’s no way I’m drafting him in mixed leagues. Outside of dynasty leagues, he’s still too raw, even with his 1.97 ERA last year in Double-A. Of course, if he gets called up in June, I’d take a flyer in mixed leagues when he’s called up, but we’ll cross that Verrazano Narrows when we wanna go smell Staten Island. For 2014, I’ll give Bradley the line of 6-5/4.14/1.34/85 in 90 innings.
