This weekend, I won’t be with the Orioles, and we’ll be featuring stories about the Double-A Chesapeake Baysox. We’ll return with Orioles coverage on Monday from Boston’s Fenway Park.
BOWIE—It’s been a challenging year for Enrique Bradfield Jr., the Orioles’ first-round draft pick in 2023, and the centerfielder for the Baysox.
On Friday night, Bradfield played in just his 50th game this season, and his 39th for Chesapeake because of a pair of hamstring injuries—one to his left and another to his right.
“Obviously it hasn’t been the year I’ve been expecting to have,” Bradfield said on Friday before the Baysox’s 7-5 loss in 12 innings to Erie at Prince George’s Stadium.
“I faced some difficult circumstances. I’m making the best of it. I’m healthy, and I’m ready to make this final stretch and have a good rest of the season and finish strong.”
Perhaps the Orioles thought that Bradfield would be ready to replace Cedric Mullins in center field in two seasons when they drafted him with the 17th overall pick.
Bradfield has played in 183 professional games in three seasons, fewer than the 191 he did at Vanderbilt.
On Friday night, Bradfield was 0-for-4. Leading off in the bottom of the first, he attempted to bunt for a hit, but it went foul and he flied to center. He walked in the third, stole second on the back-end of a double steal and scored.
In the fifth, he was robbed of an extra-base hit by Erie centerfielder Max Clark, who was taken by Detroit 14 selections ahead of Bradfield as the third overall pick in 2023. Bradfield struck out in the eighth and grounded to the catcher with the bases loaded in the ninth.
As scouts like to say, Bradfield is toolsy. He runs well and plays an excellent center field. He stole his 17th base in 19 attempts but hasn’t hit for power. Bradfield has just two home runs and 11 RBIs this season and is hitting .252 with a .761 OPS.
“Power is part of the game,” Bradfield said. “Do I think it’s something I need to work on? I don’t. If I put an emphasis on where that would rank for me, I’d probably want to clean up and improve on some other things before I even thought about that.
“That’s something that comes with time. We see a ton of guys put in this weird box when it comes to not having any power or juice, but at the same time there’s different guys for different reasons, different roles, different parts of the team to play.
“I think it’s something that needs to change with the game. I feel like a lot of people play such a big emphasis on it they forget about everything else one individual can do. I feel like when the time comes, I’ll be fine. That’s not something I’m worried about at all.”
Bradfield is correct. There is too much emphasis on launch angle, and he was drafted in the first year of the rules that limited the number of pickoff attempts and allowed for larger bases to encourage more stolen bases.
“That’s fun. Every time I get out there, whether it’s a walk, it’s an infield single, a line drive, it doesn’t really matter,” he said.
“I’m on first base, and I’m looking to attack and score a run for the team to help us put something in play, hard get around the bases, touch home plate, score us a run. I can be very aggressive out there, but at the same time, I can pick my spots.
“It’s something that’s calculated. It’s planned. I prepared for that already. I’ve thought about every single situation in my head already at that point. All it is is me picking the time and going. At the same time, I can be a distraction for those pitchers, and I can feed some good pitches to the hitters coming up behind me and we can put it in play and do some damage.
“That’s the [beauty] about it. I don’t always have to run to be effective. I can do my job and put the guys behind me in a good spot to succeed by just playing my own game and obviously, the other teams are going to worry about that.”
Bradfield was invited to major league spring training, but was one of the early cuts. He found the time in Sarasota beneficial.
“It’s just a lot, a lot of good players in a good clubhouse that have great experiences to learn from,” Bradfield said. “It’s conversations. It’s watching people do their work, how they take care of their body, how they go about their business their entire day.
“You start to see why they’re in that position, and why they’ve had the success that they’ve had in their own careers individually. From a team aspect, there’s nothing like being in a good clubhouse. Everybody was welcoming.
“Different ages, different parts of life. You’ve got some guys with families, some guys with wives, younger guys who aren’t. You get to see all those dynamics come to play. That’s what makes the whole experience special.”
The Baysox are just two levels away from the majors, and Bowie is about 40 minutes away from Camden Yards.
“I feel very close. I feel like that I’m right there,” Bradfield said. “I’m in a good spot, just continuing to put my head down and work, trying not to think about when that time could be, just honestly making sure I’m ready for it whenever that time comes. I don’t think it’s a matter of it. It’s a matter of when. I feel like I know that. The team knows that. It’s just a matter of when.”
What’s going on in other minor league games? Tyler Wells allowed three runs on six hits in five innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk. Wells struck out five and walked one, throwing 77 pitches in a 6-4 win over Jacksonville.
Jordyn Adams drove in four runs with a home run and triple.
Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters in Houston that Kyle Bradish, who threw five scoreless innings for the Tides on Thursday night, would have one more rehab start.
Juan Rojas allowed four runs in the first inning without retiring a batter as High-A Aberdeen lost to Hudson Valley, 5-2.
Carson Dorsey and Andy Fabian combined for eight shutout innings, allowing two hits for Single-A Delmarva, but Lynchburg scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 win.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.