BOSTON -- Right-hander Taj Bradley was taken off the 15-day injured list on Saturday and gave the Twins what they needed – five solid innings in a 4-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
He struck out seven while surrendering one run on three hits and two walks.
It was Bradley’s first outing since May 5. He was inactive because of pectoralis muscle inflammation. Before Saturday’s game against Boston, Bradley called his mother, Ana Mosely, and told her that he had a lot of adrenaline in him because he was pitching in a historic ballpark like Fenway, and he was eager to get back on the mound.
Bradley didn’t lose a step during the first three innings, retiring eight of the first nine hitters that he faced. He even topped out at 100.3 mph on the radar gun. But Boston was able to get to him in the fourth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Ceddanne Rafaela doubled to right-center field, scoring Mickey Gasper before Willson Contreras was thrown out at the plate to end the threat.
“[Bradley] was really good,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “He had a short rehab start, but the execution of his stuff [on Saturday] was as sharp as we’ve seen it. That’s really important when you come off the IL – to be able to go out and execute pitches right there. He suppressed contact really well and had some punchouts. Overall, I thought he was outstanding.”
Shelton may have said it best when describing Bradley the pitcher: he is growing up in front of everybody’s eyes. Bradley, now in his age-25 season, is a different pitcher for Minnesota than he was for the Rays. This year, he is taking diligent notes on opposing hitters and he often talks with Harry Welsh, the Major League coordinator of run prevention, to confirm the right way to get hitters out. Before joining the Twins, Bradley acknowledged that he never looked at scouting reports.
“Harry has been helping me every night before my starts,” Bradley said. “We sit down and go over each hitter. I’ll write a report and see if I was right about it. If not, he’ll just give me some footnotes and we’ll get a game plan together. We take it into my bullpens, executing pitches with actual intent behind why I’m throwing stuff and when I’m throwing them.”
Welsh said Bradley took the next step in becoming a quality pitcher. Besides taking notes, Bradley and Welsh simplify the game plan. Bradley is open minded when it comes to the nuances of pitching.
“It’s so much fun to watch him pitch,” Welsh said. “When he is out there on the mound, we have a really good chance of winning the game. He has done a great job. It’s fun to watch him prepare and take that preparation to the mound and execute his pitches.”
After Bradley left the game, left-hander Kendry Rojas entered the game and shut down the Red Sox for three innings.
“I thought Kendry did a nice job,” Shelton said. “We knew we were going with Taj and going with Rojas behind him. Rojas came in and really did a nice job with his fastball. He was able to use his breaking ball and get some punchouts.”
The Twins gave Bradley four runs of support, highlighted by Austin Martin’s RBI double in the first.