Bobby Bradley (1B, CLE) - Week 15 Waiver Wire Pickups

3 years ago by Mike Marteny

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BALLER MOVE: Add in leagues of 14+ teams

ROSTERED IN: 15% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Bradley struggled in his September call-up in 2019 and didn't play last year due to the pandemic. Cleveland started him at AAA Columbus this year to get his footing back under him. After hitting just .196 in 26 games, he got the call to the show. Why? Because Josh Naylor was even worse. Bradley did hit nine homers at Columbus and has a track record of mashing in the minors. Bradley was extraordinarily unlucky at Columbus this year with a .182 BABIP. His metrics told a much better story than that offputting batting average.

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It appears that hitting in Cleveland is easier than in Columbus. In his first 26 games with Cleveland this year, Bradley is hitting .236 with eight homers and 17 RBI. The ten walks in 89 at-bats are a nice touch as well. The 10% walk rate is above league average and the 28% K percentage is well above average. The .245 BABIP is well below what he put up in the minors, so we can expect a better average from him.

Bradley hits the ball hard. The 90.2 mph average exit velocity and 114.2 maximum exit velocity are both well into the 90th percentile. He also has a superb 21.3% barrel percentage. Bradley has more barrels (13) than some guys have in over 200 at-bats this year! His expected stats are not much lower than they currently are. In fact, his xwOBA is higher than his current OBA. The .262 xBA should be aboue where we expect Bradley to end up in terms of average.

If you are in need of power, give Bradley a look. He hit more than 25 homers in every full minor league season except 2017 when he fell just short. Bradley's plate discipline has been an issue at most stops along the way, but so far he is only striking out at a 28% clip with a nice 10% walk rate. If he can keep that up, his average wont hurt you and he could be even more of an asset in leagues that count OBP.

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