SAN FRANCISCO -- When you make a move at the Trade Deadline, you’re just hoping it turns out like this. Taj Bradley was 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.
“I'm happy,” Bradley said. “I can look back and be content with everything I've done this year and even this last start. I'm happy about it.”
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.
“That's a guy that's a workhorse,” said manager Derek Shelton. “For him to be able to end with a victory, yes, he's a large of part of what we do this year, and he's going to be a large part as we move forward.”
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.
He used all four of his pitches to great effect, relying heavily as usual on his 97 mph fastball and wipeout splitter as well as his cutter and curveball. He got strikeouts on the fastball, cutter and curve, and his final pitch of the season was a fastball at 98 mph.
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. He pitched well, consistently, from start to finish.
“Durability, I mean, this game is long, man, so just staying healthy is a big part of it, no matter the numbers,” Bradley said. “You know, if you stay healthy a full year, I mean, that's important also. Just excited I got to go deep into the season, stay up a full year, and just see what I can do at the big league level consistently.”
The off-field side was a win as well. as Bradley was not only a highly productive member of the rotation but also a popular teammate and presence in the clubhouse. As much as the Twins are happy to have acquired him, he’s happy to be here.
“I'm happy every time I come to the field, man,” he said. “That's something that you get lucky. To have some rough starts to come in, joke around and stuff like that, and just get on with the next week. If you've got to be here for eight months, you want to be happy while you do it, not just with success on the field, but just the people you're around.”