The Marlins have signed reliever Archie Bradley to a minor league contract, tweets Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Jacksonville.
Bradley had lingered in free agency all offseason. The former seventh overall pick has played parts of eight seasons at the big league level. He moved to the bullpen full-time with the Diamondbacks in 2017, posting a 1.73 ERA over 73 innings that year. While Bradley has never quite recaptured that level of success, he allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine every season between 2018-21.
Two winters ago, the Oklahoma native inked a $3.75MM free agent deal with the Angels. His stint in Orange County didn’t go according to plan. Bradley threw 18 2/3 innings over 21 outings, allowing 13 runs (10 earned). He punched out only 19.2% of opposing hitters while generating whiffs on a well below-average 8.1% of his offerings. Bradley induced ground balls at a huge 57.1% clip but the lackluster strikeout tallies contributed to a 4.82 ERA that was his worst since moving to relief.
His season came to an unceremonious end in late June. Bradley fractured his throwing elbow when he slipped while trying to hop the dugout railing during a bench-clearing brawl. He’d been set to return at the tail end of the season but was diagnosed with a forearm strain.
On the heels of that rough platform showing, it’s not surprising Bradley had to settle for a minor league pact. He’ll surely need some time to build into game shape but could factor into the Miami bullpen during the year. The Marlins’ relief corps has struggled in the early going, allowing a 6.02 ERA that’s fourth-highest in the majors. Miami’s 38.8% grounder rate is 25th in MLB, so Bradley’s high-grounder profile could complement the group once he’s ready to go.
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