{"id":760226,"date":"2026-07-24T13:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/760226\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:06:19","slug":"how-the-twins-found-the-taj-bradley-they-believed-they-were-acquiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/760226\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Twins Found the Taj Bradley They Believed They Were Acquiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taj Bradley<\/a> left Progressive Field on Thursday after another start that reinforced the transformation the Twins have been chasing for the past year. The right-hander worked seven innings, allowed only two hits and one run in Minnesota\u2019s 3-1, 12-inning victory over Cleveland, another performance that showed his improvement is not the product of a short-term hot streak.<\/p>\n

When the Twins acquired Bradley<\/a> from the Rays at the 2025 trade deadline, the bet was never about fixing his arm.<\/p>\n

The bet was about fixing his plan.<\/p>\n

Bradley <\/a>always had a fastball capable of overpowering major league hitters and a repertoire with the potential of a frontline starter. The problem was that his talent appeared in flashes. Between a more scattered pitch mix and inconsistent execution, he alternated dominant outings with starts where contact became the deciding factor.<\/p>\n

One year later, Minnesota appears to have found the version of the pitcher it envisioned when it completed the trade.<\/p>\n

The Taj Bradley transformation\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley (26). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Through 107.2 innings, Bradley has raised his strikeout rate to 27.2% while lowering his xERA to 3.72. The improvement is also visible in Statcast<\/a>. His Whiff% jumped from the 35th percentile to the 64th, his K% moved from the 37th percentile to the 80th, and the quality of contact allowed has improved dramatically: his Hard-Hit% dropped from the 55th percentile to the 9th, while his Barrel% allowed fell from the 64th percentile to the 18th. Those changes reflect a better process, not just better results.<\/p>\n

Fewer pitches, more conviction<\/p>\n

Minnesota did not add a new pitch. It worked to help Bradley regain confidence in the arsenal he already had.<\/p>\n

Instead of spreading responsibility across four different offerings, Bradley<\/a> now builds most of his at-bats around a much clearer sequence. The four-seam fastball establishes the matchup at the top of the strike zone. The cutter changes the hitter\u2019s eye level and forces opponents to respect a different type of movement. Once hitters have to account for both velocities, the splitter becomes the finishing pitch.<\/p>\n

The curveball, which accounted for 15% of his repertoire in 2025, has dropped to just 8.7%. That adjustment has reduced the number of decisions Bradley has to make during each matchup and strengthened the relationship between his best pitches.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s start was a clear example of that approach. Bradley used his fastball 39% of the time, his splitter 27% and his cutter 19%, while limiting Cleveland to two hits over seven innings. His fastball averaged 97.5 mph, reached 100.4 mph and once again set the tone for the outing.<\/p>\n

The biggest change has come with the cutter, which saw its whiff rate increase from 14.1% to 19.6%. At the same time, the fastball has taken an even bigger step forward: its Run Value improved from the 20th percentile to the 84th percentile, fueled by increased velocity and a significant reduction in hard contact allowed.<\/p>\n

Every change comes with a cost.<\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s ground-ball rate has fallen to 33.7%, and his walk rate still leaves room for improvement. Minnesota has accepted that tradeoff because the benefits have outweighed the drawbacks: Bradley is generating more swings and misses, limiting damage when hitters make contact and maximizing the strengths of his arsenal.<\/p>\n

A development that changes Minnesota\u2019s outlook\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley (26). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s evolution comes at a critical moment for the organization. With the trade deadline approaching, the Twins still must decide whether they will push for a postseason spot or make moves focused on the future.<\/p>\n

Either way, Bradley is far more valuable than he was a year ago. If Minnesota buys, it has a starter capable of dominating important games. If it sells, it has one of the young pitchers who has increased his market value the most over the past season.<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taj Bradley left Progressive Field on Thursday after another start that reinforced the transformation the Twins have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,822,60,3190,4,148],"class_list":["post-760226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-twins","tag-baseball","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-minnesotatwins","tag-mlb","tag-twins"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116975107423617204","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}