A trio of IBC Braves pitching prospects showing up today:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... ew-may-11/
Taj Bradley, RHP
Double-A Montgomery (Rays)
May 3: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR
After leading the minor leagues in ERA in 2021, Bradley entered the season as the No. 52 prospect in baseball. Drafted out of the Georgia prep ranks in the fifth round in 2018, he was one of the youngest players in his draft class and had very little experience on the mound leading up to his senior year.
The righthander turned 21 a few weeks before the season and was assigned to Double-A Montgomery this spring. Coming into the season, Bradley relied heavily on a fastball and slider plan of attack, mixing in a curveball and changeup on occasion. In this start, Bradley showed better feel for a variety of pitches. While still primarily fastball-heavy early in counts, he didn’t use his slider as a crutch as frequently as he had in the past. Over the first few innings, he battled his command a little, some of which was an inability to land his changeup low to his glove side in two-strike counts to lefthanded batters.
After Biloxi’s Joey Wiemer led off the second inning with a home run, Bradley reined it in. He proceeded to sit down the final nine batters he faced, including six via strikeout. His fastball sat 95-97 mph and touched 98, showing trademark plus vertical break by getting more than 18 inches of ride on average. Bradley mixed in his slider at 88-91 mph, a cutter at 91-94 mph, a downer curveball at 78-80 and a split-changeup in the upper 80s.
Bradley used his cutter quite a bit in fastball counts, and that gave him another look to work off his plus fastball. His curveball was more of a strike-stealer or show-me pitch, but he didn’t shy away from it. I wouldn’t describe his command as sharp on the day, but he managed to get all of his pitches in the zone and challenged hitters with velocity and movement.
Ultimately, Bradley has the stuff to dominate whenever he’s throwing strikes. When you factor in his relative inexperience on the mound, it’s easy to see front-of-the-rotation potential from Bradley. In order to get there, he’s going to need to identify a true putaway pitch versus lefthanders, whether that comes in the form of his curveball or changeup.
Antoine Kelly, LHP
High-A Wisconsin (Brewers)
May 6: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 10 SO
Kelly is a tall, athletic lefthander who was the Brewers’ 2019 second-rounder out of Wabash Valley (Ill.) JC. Entering 2022, Kelly had pitched just 51 pro innings, a majority of them in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2019. He missed much of 2021 as he recovered from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, logging 19.1 innings.
Assigned to High-A Wisconsin out of camp this year, Kelly had an encouraging opening month in which he allowed just six earned runs over 16.2 innings with 23 strikeouts to 13 walks. In his first start of May, Kelly’s command of his arsenal was as locked in as ever. He masterfully quelled the Fort Wayne lineup for five innings.
Kelly allowed an infield single to the second batter of the game, but it was really just a miscommunication by his infield. He attacked hitters early in counts with fastballs to both sides of the plate and elevated. He sat 95-97 mph early before dropping down to 93-95. He threw nearly 70% strikes on the day, and many of his misses were chase pitches in two-strike counts. Kelly didn’t just miss bats, he put pressure on hitters by landing his three-pitch mix to both sides of the plate. He didn’t allow any hard contact, and all three of his fly balls were routine outs.
Kelly got squeezed in his single walk of the game. He threw well-executed pitches in succession that were both ruled balls. While Kelly allowed two baserunners on the day, it’s fair to say each came with an asterisk. With a power, mid-90s fastball with more than a foot of horizontal break, a sweepy slider and a changeup that’s beginning to flash average or better consistently, Kelly has the mix of an impact arm who could fill a variety of roles.
It’s rare to see this level of power, movement and deception in a single package. If Kelly can consistently look the way he did in this start, he’s got a future as a starter. If the command never fully materializes, he’ll likely provide value as a high-leverage reliever.
Kyle Harrison, LHP
High-A Eugene (Giants)
May 6: 4 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 SO
The 2020 fourth-rounder out of high school has quickly established himself as one of the most highly touted pitchers in the low minors. Assigned to High-A Eugene out of camp, Harrison entered this start with a 3.00 ERA and 32 strikeouts to five walks. In this start he struck out 10 while allowing two hits and three walks.
Most of Harrison’s trouble came in the third inning, when he was squeezed on consecutive pitches that could have been strike three. Once he had to pitch from the stretch, his command seemed to waver. Up to that point, he had mostly attacked in the zone, particularly early in counts. He was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam with a called strike in a 3-2 count.
On the day, Harrison’s fastball sat 93-95 mph playing up due to his low release height and deceptive motion. He mixed in mostly his mid-80s slider as his primary secondary, showing a few changeups. His stuff was dominant at times, but he went in and out of pinpoint command, and he had several misses that landed fairly well off their intended target. He struggled at times in two-strikes counts, throwing too many easy takes.
Overall, Harrison showed flashes of brilliance, with a fastball-slider combination that could be deadly at times. If Harrison is able to hone his command in the coming years, he could blossom into an above-average major league starter.