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Another year, another Archie Bradley outlook post.  He now has two said posts, which might be it for him, if he can’t start to make good on his promise.  Here’s what Prospect Mike said this year on him, “Many fantasy owners thought Bradley might have already made his debut by now, but elbow problems and a D-Backs squad that went nowhere again in 2014 stalled his progress. Kinda like how Grey’s maturity level stalled in the 4th grade.”  Hey, I’m way more of a middle schooler!  Here’s what I said last year, “Archie reminds me of Taijuan Walker, 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.”  And that’s me quoting me!  Unfortch, I was way more prescient than I wanted to be with Bradley.  So, what can we expect of Archie Bradley for 2015 fantasy baseball?

Different verse, same as the first.  We need to see some capital-C Control, which coincidentally features the best song on that album, Nasty.  It’s almost like Janet Jackson was singing about rookie pitchers.  No one knows when this control is going to come.  Could come like wildfire this year and suddenly he’s a number one starter.  The reason why he’s sexy is his low-effort delivery that produces a 96 MPH fastball.  The reason why he’s not?  Doesn’t really have a third pitch yet and he had a 5.9 BB/9 in Double-A.  For those slow on the uptake, if you’re giving out walks to minor leaguers at that rate, your shizz is a mess.  Minor leaguers only walk when their bus breaks down.  Even though he didn’t deserve it, the Diamondbacks promoted him to Triple-A last year, because, I imagine, Kevin Towers was like, “What the eff?  I’m gonna get fired anyway.” In Triple-A, Bradley had the same problems with his control.  He couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a Medieval catapult flinging Ruben Studdard, sadly racking up a 4.4 BB/9.  A guy that is close to 5 walks per nine is undraftable in any league.  A rookie that’s doing it shouldn’t be a rookie, he should be in the minors until he can repeat his delivery and command his pitches, which is likely where he’ll be to start 2015.  For those in dynasty and deep keepers, you can continue to wait for Bradley; he is still young (22).  Everyone else, this isn’t a flyer you want to take unless he eats a potato chip in the shape of Brad Radke and has a miracle happen to his command.  For 2015, I’ll give him the line of 2-4/4.40/1.49/40 in 50 IP.  In other words, he’s still a mess.