Bradfield has big league dreams as he approaches key camp with O's

BALTIMORE -- All signs point toward Enrique Bradfield Jr. making his MLB debut in 2026.

The Orioles’ first-round Draft pick in 2023, Bradfield finished the ‘25 season at Triple-A Norfolk. He then went to the Arizona Fall League -- long known as a “finishing school” for top prospects who are close to the Majors -- and played an additional 20 games to complete his year.

In 2026, Bradfield will be invited to big league Spring Training for the second consecutive year. Only this time, the 24-year-old outfielder is a more experienced and proven Minor League player who could at least give Baltimore a difficult decision to make if the club’s No. 4 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) has a strong camp.

And that’s what O’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias is hoping for.

“That would be terrific to see,” Elias recently said. “We’re going to bring him to camp, and we’ll kind of take it from there. Just looking at his Baseball-Reference page so to speak, he hasn’t exhausted the Minor Leagues. So we’ll see where it goes. But he’s going to be in camp, it’s going to be a real important camp for him, and we look forward to seeing him there.”

To be clear, the odds are against Bradfield breaking camp with the Orioles’ big league team. He’s played only 15 games at Triple-A, and he was limited to 96 games during the 2025 season (including his Fall League stint) due to a pair of hamstring injuries (one in each leg).

But Bradfield is getting close to being in the mix for Baltimore, especially because of his skill set.

The O’s don’t have any blazing speedsters on their MLB roster at the moment. Jackson Holliday is quick, but he’s also still learning how to utilize his speed on the basepaths, as the 22-year-old went 17-for-28 on steal attempts this past season.

Utilityman Jorge Mateo was the Orioles’ fastest player the past few years, but the 30-year-old is now a free agent after his $5.5 million team option was declined in November.

Bradfield’s 80-grade speed is his top tool and one he uses to be a game-changer no matter what level he’s playing at. In his first full professional season in 2024, the Vanderbilt product went 74-for-87 on steal attempts in 108 games between Double-A and High-A.

In 2025, Bradfield went 36-for-40 on stolen bases in 76 Minor League games across four levels. Then, he went 17-for-18 in the Arizona Fall League.

Another way Bradfield’s speed benefits him is on defense, where he has a 70-grade glove in center field. He’s capable of making spectacular plays, as he often did in his time in the AFL.

Baltimore is likely to enter the season with Colton Cowser as its starting center fielder, even though much of his pro experience has come in the corners. The O’s also signed veteran Leody Taveras to a one-year, $2 million deal to serve as depth in center.

The Orioles have plenty of options to play in the corners -- a group that includes Taylor Ward, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Beavers (the club’s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 83 overall) and Heston Kjerstad -- so it helps a bit to remove Cowser from that crowded mix and have him handle center. But Cowser’s long-term future could still be as more of a corner outfielder.

Bradfield could be Baltimore’s center fielder of the future. But he’ll also need to prove that he can hit enough to serve in the role.

That wasn’t an issue at Double-A, where Bradfield hit .276 with a .784 OPS in 77 games over the past two seasons. During his brief 15-game stint at Triple-A, he hit .179 with a .512 OPS, which could show that he may need to return to Norfolk and face more pitching there.

But Bradfield is on a trajectory that should see him getting at least a taste of the big leagues in 2026 -- and that’s his objective.

“That’s definitely the goal,” Bradfield said at the end of the Minor League season in mid-September. “I’m just going to show up every day, work, learn as much as I can and continue to do what I’ve been doing in this org for about two years now.”