The Phillies made a strong move in the quest to update what was the biggest bullpen of the majors last season.
The team, several sources confirmed, reached an agreement on a one-year contract with free agent Archie Bradley on Thursday. The $ 6 million deal depends on a physical exam.
Once signed, Bradley will become the first free agent signed by the Phillies in what has been a very slow market this winter. Many teams retreated in spending after losing revenue during the 2020 season, which was reduced to 60 games due to the pandemic. Five weeks before the start of spring training, most of the best free agents remain without a contract, including the All-Star catcher JT Realmuto. The Phillies are trying to sign him again.
If Realmuto returns, he will find himself picking up an Oklahoman colleague in Bradley, a 6-4 right-hand who was chosen in the first round draft (7th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011.
Bradley made it to the majors as a starter, but made a spectacular transition to the bullpen in 2017. He recorded 1.76 ERA in 63 games that season. In the last four seasons, he is in eighth place among the major league appeasers in entries (233⅓) and 14th in ERA (2.82). His WHIP in that period (including a start) is 1,197 and he recorded 9.9 eliminations and 3.1 walks for nine entries.
Bradley, 28, is the club’s third acquired reliever since Dave Dombrowski arrived as president of baseball operations last month. The Phillies previously hired two strong pitchers, leftist Jose Alvarado and powerful Sam Coonrod, in negotiations with Tampa Bay and San Francisco, respectively. Bradley is by far the most talented of the pickups and will give coach Joe Girardi another option in the last few entries to go with Hector Neris. Bradley worked as a configuration man and one closest in his career.
The Phillies’ Bullpen pitched for a 7.06 ERA in 2020, the worst of the major, and alone prevented the club from reaching the playoffs. Phils lost 21 games in which they held the lead at one point. That was more in the majors.
Bradley is a powerful pitcher. His fastball averaged 94.4 mph in 2020. He also uses a curved ball and launches a shift.
Bradley was one of the most sought-after substitutes in last summer’s negotiation deadline. He was traded from Arizona to Cincinnati and threw 7⅔ innings at the Reds in the final stretch. He gave up just four strokes and one run, hit six and walked none. In a cost-cutting move, the Reds did not offer Bradley a contract in early December and he became a free agent. Now he appears to be part of the solution in Philadelphia, where he will meet with Caleb Cotham, the Phillies’ new pitcher. Cotham was an assistant coach for pitchers in Cincinnati last season.
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