ESPN’s Law: D-backs’ Archie Bradley baseball’s top pitching prospect
Jul 18, 2013, 5:17 PM | Updated: 5:17 pm
The Archie Bradley train is picking up steam.
Already arguably the top pitching prospect in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ farm system, the 20-year-old tossed a clean inning in MLB’s Futures Game over the weekend and, with a 2.37 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 76.0 Double-A innings, some are wondering if he’ll soon don a D-backs uniform.
That is a question for another day.
For now, take solace in the fact that the D-backs have one of the game’s better pitching prospects. And, according to ESPN MLB analyst Keith Law in an Insider piece, he’s the best pitching prospect. Period.
His command has improved over last year, as well as the control, while he’s still in the 93-98 mph range with his heater.
His curveball has been a little less consistent this year, still hard at 79-83 but not quite as sharp as last year, while the changeup continues to improve and should be no worse than a solid-average pitch. The curve is still a swing-and-miss pitch for him, and with the huge fastball and his No. 1 starter build, he’s the minors’ best pitching prospect.
Selected by the Diamondbacks with the seventh pick in the 2011 MLB First Year Player Draft, Bradley has compiled a 20-10 record with a 3.04 ERA in 242.2 Minor League innings. The right-hander went into the season as a top prospect, and he’s done nothing to disappoint.
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