Rays option struggling young starter after rough outing

The Tampa Bay Rays optioned Taj Bradley to Triple-A Durham after Wednesday's rough start against the Chicago White Sox, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. They’ll presumably announce that decision and a corresponding roster move Thursday. Joe Boyle, who has been working in long relief, stands as the obvious candidate to step into the rotation.

Bradley didn’t make it out of the second inning Wednesday. He gave up four hits and three walks, allowing four runs in an inning and two-thirds. That promptly erased a four-run lead that the Rays had built in the bottom of the first. They took the lead back in the middle frames before an eighth-inning implosion by setup man Kevin Kelly led to an 11-9 defeat to the American League’s worst team.

This pushed Bradley’s season earned run average to 4.61 across 111 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old righty has a slightly below-average 20.2% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk percentage. Leading up to Wednesday, he was coming off two of his best outings of the season. Bradley blanked the Orioles over six innings with as many strikeouts in his first start out of the All-Star break. He’d closed the first half with six innings of one-run ball against Boston.

Bradley has been in Kevin Cash’s rotation all season. This is his first optional assignment since the end of 2023. Boyle, who was one of five relievers called upon Wednesday, worked three innings of one-run ball. He carries a 1.42 ERA in 19 innings over five MLB appearances. Acquired from the Athletics in the Jeffrey Springs trade, Boyle has a huge arm but has struggled with command throughout his career.

The 25-year-old has seemingly taken a step forward in that regard this year. He walked 10.8% of batters faced across 15 Triple-A outings. That’s still higher than average but much more tolerable than the 17-20% range at which he’d sat for most of his minor league career. Boyle fanned 33% of Triple-A opponents with a 1.85 ERA while working from Durham’s rotation.

Bradley’s demotion one week before the deadline is interesting. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported a couple weeks ago that the club was open to offers on Bradley. ESPN’s Jeff Passan similarly wrote Wednesday morning that the one-time top pitching prospect is available in trade discussions. Bradley is likely still a season away from arbitration and under club control for four years beyond this one. 

If the Rays don’t trade him, they’ll need to keep him in Durham for at least 15 days unless he’s brought up to replace someone who is going on the injured list.