Guardians Baseball Insider

(Photo: Ken Blaze , USA TODAY Sports)

2020 season age: 24 – Throws: Right –  Bats: Left – Contract: – Rookie status

2019 in review: Bradley finally made his rookie debut in 2019 and hit .178/.245/.356 with a homer, four doubles and five RBI. He ran an unsurprising 40 K% in the majors and an 8 BB%. In Triple-A Bradley masked that strikeout rate with 33 homers hitting .264/.344/.567. He had a 33 K% and 10.2 BB%.

Beyond the stats: In just a short sample, Bradley’s 40 K% was unplayable as a hitter at the major league level. His 18% swinging strike rate was nearly identical from Triple-A to the majors but his strikeout rate increased 7% with the promotion while his walk rate dropped 2%. He did have a 91.9 average exit velocity puts him at a good mark, but obviously the swing and miss issues are the biggest thing from Bradley unlocking that type of contact regularly. 

Offensive impact: There’s really no mystery in Bradley’s profile. He hits the ball hard and hits it pretty far when he makes contact. He’s a 40 homer type hitter but has the contact ability of a .220 hitter. His walk rate should be roughly average at the major league level but even that makes it hard to buoy his OBP if he hits down at that average. He’s a very heavy pull hitter so he is likely to face a lot of shifting, which will also hurt his BABIP and also affects his average. 

Defensive impact: Bradley is a first basemen only and actually was worth +1 OAA but had a -1 DRS mark. He’s probably best served as a DH but looks to be about average at first base, though with more exposure the numbers could look worse overall.

2020 role: With Carlos Santana manning first base and Jake Bauers serving as the backup whether at the major or minor league level, Bradley is stuck behind at least two players for playing time in 2020. Additionally, Franmil Reyes will take up at bats at DH and potentially, so might Domingo Santana. There’s not a clear path for at bats for him in 2020 barring injuries.

Fantasy impact: Without any chance at regular at bats in 2020 as of now, there’s not much reason to roster Bradley in any fantasy league. His strikeout rate limits his power output and there are better options to stash in deeper leagues at first base. But if many of those options are taken, you can stash him and hope that he finds regular playing time in Cleveland by 2021, or elsewhere and you can hope he’ll hit 30 homers and live with the batting average issues.