| Taj Bradley | |
| Team: | Tampa Bay Rays |
| Number: | 45 |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 2001 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | April 12 |
| Debutyear: | 2023 |
| Debutteam: | Tampa Bay Rays |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | July 12, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Win–loss record |
| Stat1value: | 9–12 |
| Stat2label: | Earned run average |
| Stat2value: | 4.53 |
| Stat3label: | Strikeouts |
| Stat3value: | 214 |
| Teams: |
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Taj Ali Bradley (born March 20, 2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Bradley grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and attended Redan High School. He initially played mostly outfield and catcher before. Bradley initially committed to play college baseball at Hillsborough Community College before changing his commitment to the University of South Carolina later in his senior year.[1]
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Bradley in the fifth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[2] He made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Rays with whom he pitched 23 innings and compiled a 5.09 ERA. He spent the 2019 season with the Rookie-level Princeton Rays of the Appalachian League where he went 2–5 with 3.18 over 11 starts and 12 total appearances.[3] Bradley began the 2021 season with the Low-A East Charleston RiverDogs where he went 9–3 with a 1.76 ERA over 14 starts before being promoted to the High-A East Bowling Green Hot Rods.[4] [5] Over eight starts with Bowling Green, he went 3–0 with a 1.96 ERA and 42 strikeouts over innings.[6] [7] Bradley was assigned to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits at the start of the 2022 season.[8] He was selected to play in the 2022 All-Star Futures Game.[9] Bradley was promoted to the Triple-A Durham Bulls following the conclusion of the MLB All-Star break.[10]
Bradley was optioned to Triple-A Durham to begin the 2023 season.[11] The Rays promoted him to the major leagues on April 11 to make his major league debut the following day.[12] Bradley started the game on April 12, pitching 5 innings and striking out 8, while allowing 3 runs.[13]