D-backs’ Archie Bradley is either closing or tweeting about that song
Jan 16, 2019, 2:49 PM
Archie Bradley knows how to rile up Arizona Diamondbacks fans with a two-word tweet.
The D-backs reliever on Wednesday simply posted “Closing time” with a warning sign emoji accompanying a photo of himself coming off the mound and slapping hands with catcher John Ryan Murphy.
Might that mean someone has told Bradley he could be Arizona’s closer in 2019?
Closing time. ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/rLuvKHt46q
— Archie Bradley (@ArchieBradley7) January 16, 2019
It would be hard to imagine D-backs manager Torey Lovullo already green-lit Bradley as the team’s closer in mid-January.
Arizona still has a great many roster decisions to consider before players report for spring training next month, and that goes for the restructured bullpen that started off strong but fell off last year as the D-backs fell out of the playoff race.
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Bradley figures to be a key part of the bullpen once again in 2019 after producing a 3.64 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 71.2 innings with three saves and 34 holds last season. The D-backs would hope, of course, he edges back toward the production from his 2017 campaign, in which the right-hander finished with a 1.73 ERA.
With the team allowing former closer Brad Boxberger to walk this offseason, Bradley would be a relatively inexpensive in-house option to take the closing role — or at least compete for it along with returning reliever Yoshi Hirano.
Bradley will make $1.83 million in 2019, a reasonable deal compared to a free agent addition. Arizona’s last closer signed in free agency, the then-39-year-old Fernando Rodney, commanded a $2.75 million salary over a year, plus incentives. This past season, Rodney made $4.5 million plus incentives with the Minnesota Twins.
So is Bradley’s tweet about that time to close, or is he just a big fan of every bars’ last-call-affiliated song by Semisonic?
