Archie Bradley shows maturity vs. Padres in quality second outing of spring

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Archie Bradley is one of a few pitchers battling for a spot in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rotation, and though spring results will not be the sole determining factor, his outing Thursday afternoon in a 9-6 loss to the San Diego Padres probably did nothing to hurt his cause.

The right-hander started off shaky, allowing back-to-back singles to Manuel Margot and Travis Jankowski to begin the game, but with runners on the corners picked the latter off first, struck out Wil Myers and induced a groundout from Hunter Renfroe to get out of the inning with no damage done.

“I think it’s just a little bit of maturity, understanding the situation there,” Bradley said after his outing, in which he retired the next six batters he faced, three via strikeout. “I didn’t get off to the start I wanted to, things kind of looked like they could have got out of hand, and you pick a guy off — which doesn’t happen very often — and that’s kind of a big momentum shift.”

Bradley said he figured Jankowski would want to run at some point, so he wanted to produce a good pickoff move and see what happened. The play helped him not only get out of the inning unscathed before cruising to a line of three innings pitched, with two hits and four strikeouts.

He retired nine batters in a row before calling it a day.

“I know the second outing typically gets a little bit more productive for these guys,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “He threw the ball very, very well.”

It was a stark contrast from Bradley’s first spring outing against the Rockies, in which he allowed five runs on five hits in 1.1 innings.

Lovullo said it was exciting to watch Bradley’s performance, in part because the young hurler was able to work his way through and out of some trouble. He said it was “exactly what I know what he had hoped for.”

“Obviously it makes you feel better, but even with the results today I was able to accomplish the things I wanted to work on,” Bradley said. “I threw the changeup a lot more, used the two-seamer in and out, mixed things up; threw stuff to hitters that I normally might not do in a normal game, it’s just things I’ve been trying to work on.

“Results are great, obviously, that’s the byproduct of the work you put in. But as far as actual work I got done and improving, I felt like I definitely did that today.”

For Bradley, once a top prospect in the D-backs’ system who has thus far struggled to establish himself as a starter, this spring is seen as important one. The 24-year-old has shown flashes at the big league level, but last season posted an 8-9 record with 5.02 ERA in 26 starts.

This spring, he’s battling for a spot in a rotation that would appear to has a few locks and plenty of options.

However, he said while he would love to be part of the Opening Day roster, that’s not really his concern. Instead, he’s focused on developing his own game.

“I think that’s been my goal this spring, along with just getting better, is to throw my changeup more. To throw pitches in situations and in games that I haven’t felt comfortable to throw them in the past,” he said. “That’s what this spring is for. As much as I’m trying to make this team and throw up good numbers, I’m trying to improve as a pitcher. That’s what spring training is about.”

That is the approach he has taken, though Bradley said the confidence gained from being able to succeed while working on some things, as he did Thursday, is big. Had he found confidence in another pitch last season, he said, the season would have probably gone better for him.

“I would have been able to get out of innings instead of giving up runs and getting pulled in the fourth, fifth (inning) or whatever,” he said. “But this is the time to work on those and to get that feeling of confidence and to get a handle on things, and that’s where I’m at.”

BASE HITS

– The Diamondbacks did not win the game, but their regulars did their job. After Bradley, closer Fernando Rodney and J.J. Hoover combined to toss two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three.

“Did a great job,” Lovullo said of Rodney. “I know it was his first outing, was really excited to see where he was going to be at, and he was fantastic for a first appearance in the spring. Threw some really good secondary pitches. Fastball looked lively, so I was really excited to see him.”

– Early on, while the pitchers were holding the Padres down, the D-backs’ bats were very much alive. Shortstop Nick Ahmed had a two-run double in the gap in the second inning, and later in the frame, catcher Oscar Hernandez belted a two-run home run to left. Chris Owings was 1-for-2 with a walk, and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had a pair of singles.

“Some really key at-bats in key moments,” Lovullo said, adding he was glad to talk about his offense for a bit. “We had a number of really quality at-bats throughout that five-run second, where Nick Ahmed drives a ball into the right-center gap, Chris Owings had a key at-bat after falling behind early in the count, grinding out the AB, took a team AB and drew a walk. Oscar Hernandez has the big home run. So there were some really good moments, well-hit balls, and some really good approaches offensively early in the game, and that’s very pleasing.”

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