Taj Bradley Has Breakout Performance Of Season: He’s Back In Command After 11-K Outing

Taj Bradley had one of the best outings of his career in his recent start against the Chicago Cubs.

 

The 23-year-old tied a career-high in strikeouts with 11 on June 13 as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Cubs 3-2.

 

Bradley went seven innings, gave up two earned runs, and walked two, securing his second victory of the season.

This was the outing that Bradley needed, and he was very pleased with his performance.

 

“That was amazing,” he said. “I felt great. I was happy (manager Kevin Cash) let me run out there for the seventh.”

 

Last season, Bradley won the first three starts of his career and was in early consideration for the American League Rookie of the Year award.

 

 

After those three starts, he went on to have an up-and-down season, finishing with a 5-8 record with a 5.59 ERA.

 

This season, Bradley was sidelined at the beginning of the season due to injury, and now that he’s back healthy, he’ll look to finish the 2024 season on a strong note, and put together quality starts for his team.

 

And that start against the Cubs allowed us to see how dominant Bradley can be on the mound.

 

One pitch that Bradley relied on in that game was his splitter. That pitch kept the Cubs hitters off balance and uncomfortable at the plate.

 

Rays catcher Alex Jackson knew Bradley was dialed in from the first pitch of the game.

 

“From pitch one to when he was done, he’s out there competing and he’s giving it his all,” Jackson said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

“He was commanding it the whole night, throwing it how he wanted to and using his other pitches to set that up and established a good area and get them to swing at some things out of the zone,” he said. “The more you can get out there and you can do it, you gain experience. That’s a big thing in this game is being able to understand yourself, understand game situations and put all the practice to work.”

 

 

We have to remember that Bradley is only in his second season and he’s going to continue to grow year after year.

 

While the Rays are not at the top of the standings in their division, Bradley can show he has what it takes to be the team’s ace of the future.

 

And his teammates know how talented of a pitcher he is.

 

“I think when he’s in the zone like that, he’s got some of the best stuff in the game,” Brandon Lowe said of Bradley’s recent outing. “When he trusts himself, he can go out there and mow through lineups like that. So that was pretty cool to see from him.”

There’s no question that Bradley can surpass the amount of wins he recorded last year this season and he also could have a game where he sets a new career-high in strikeouts.

 

Bradley has a promising career ahead of him and the Tampa Rays are going to make sure to take good care of their young right-hander.