Early results show Twins starter Taj Bradley’s growth, maturity
When Taj Bradley arrived in St. Paul last summer, the starting pitcher had recently been demoted to Triple-A by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays wanted him to work on his splitter.
They wanted him to become more consistent. It wasn’t about his raw stuff — it was about being able to put it all together. It’s easy to forget, as he begins his fourth season in the majors, that Bradley is just 25 years old.
He’s still young, just months older than rotation mate Mick Abel, who has thrown about 350 fewer innings than Bradley. And so as Bradley, in the very early going of the season, has been the Twins’ biggest bright spot, it’s not uncommon to hear words like “growth,” and “maturity,” thrown around when coaches and teammates are talking about Bradley, who has a 1. 08 earned-run average through his first three starts.
He uses those words when he’s talking about himself, too. “Look at the physique. I’m swole now,” he joked about his growth.
“I think mentally I’ve grown and matured into a better picture than what I was last year, and I want to keep evolving. ” The decision to forgo competing in last month’s World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico was, he said, the most mature decision he has made. He wanted to compete, but knowing that he had an important season coming up, he decided it was for the best to stay back at spring training and continue working with Twins staff and teammates.