Former Northview standout Braydon Tucker, pitching in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, put together a memorable month of August, which led to his promotion to Double-A Reading, and in his second start for the Fightin Phils, the hard-throwing right-hander capped it off with another gem.
Tucker was bumped up in the rotation, throwing on Friday night against the Chesapeake Bay Sox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, instead of his traditional weekend outing.
Having one less day of rest didn’t seem to bother the right-hander as he pitched around traffic in the first, third and fourth innings, and in doing so, finished with a strong line that saw Tucker surrender one run on five hits and two walks over his 5.1 innings pitched. He also struck out two batters before giving way to reliever Tommy McCollum in the sixth inning.
In the five-plus inning start, Tucker faced a pair of Baltimore’s top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, which included outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. (No. 4) and Austin Overn (No. 30), while also matching up against Luis De Leon (No. 21) on the mound.
Tucker handled Bradfield and Overn quite well, holding the duo to 1-for-5 against him to close out the month of August that saw the former Knight post a 1.59 ERA, .204 opponents’ batting average, a 1.06 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in his 28.1 innings that spanned five starts.
Reading put the finishing touches on its six-game series against Chesapeake on Saturday and Sunday. The Fightin Phils will make their final road trip of the 2025 season on Tuesday to begin a series against the Hartford Yard Goats, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.