Bradley closes career-best season by reaching 200-K plateau

SAN FRANCISCO -- When you make a move at the Trade Deadline, you’re just hoping it turns out like this. Taj Bradley has been everything the Twins hoped he could be in his first full season with the club, and on Tuesday he brought his breakout year to a close in style.

Bradley reached and passed 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career en route to a strong six-inning start as the Twins beat the Giants, 3-2, at Oracle Park on Tuesday night. In what was almost certainly Bradley’s final start of 2026, he permitted a run on three hits, struck out six and walked three.

It was his first full year with Minnesota after being acquired from the Rays in a Trade Deadline deal for Griffin Jax last July, and by absolutely any standard the year has been a rousing success. Bradley set personal bests in virtually every category, including innings (178 1/3), starts (31), wins (12), strikeouts (205), and ERA (3.73). He missed only two starts all year, the result of a brief injured list stint, and took the mantle as co-ace with Joe Ryan in the absence of Pablo López.

In a longer view, Bradley did something even more important: he established himself as a key piece of the Twins’ core going forward, a building block for the rotation for years to come. He’s that rarest and most coveted of baseball commodities: a young veteran. Bradley is still only 26 despite having more than 100 big league starts under his belt, and he’s not eligible for free agency for three more years.

But in the immediate, Bradley was Tuesday’s starting pitcher for a team that needed a lift, and he provided it. He got K No. 200 on the game’s first batter, blowing a 97.7 mph fastball past Drew Gilbert. A pair of singles and a squeeze bunt put him briefly behind in the second, but after that, Bradley didn’t permit another hit.

It was the seventh time this season that Bradley pitched at least six innings and allowed no more than one run, the most of any Twins pitcher.