Jackie Bradley Jr. finds new home
There’s going to be a reunion of South Carolina national champions north of the border.
A week or so after trading for Whit Merrifield, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Jackie Bradley Jr. to a one-year deal, bringing him to a potential playoff team.
The Boston Red Sox released Bradley Jr. late last week and it didn’t take him long to find his new home.
The team officially announced the signing Tuesday afternoon.
“It all kind of happened quickly. It transpired over the last two or three days,” he told reporters Tuesday. “I’m excited to be here. It’s a great team. It’s a contending team.”
Bradley Jr., who starred for the Gamecocks on two national title teams, struggled in 91 games this season.
He was slashing .210/.257/.321 with 58 strikeouts in 290 plate appearances this year. It was one of his lowest OPS marks of his nearly 10-year big league career.
The Red Sox opted to release him, and the Blue Jays are betting on one of the better defensive outfielders in the major leagues.
Over his career, Bradley Jr. has a career 99.2 fielding percentage and a 9.9 defensive wins above replacement. This year it’s regressed some, the lowest dWAR since his rookie season in 2013.
But, at his best he’s a gold-glove level fielder who can be an all-star caliber player. He’s made one all-star game and was the MVP of the ALCS in 2018 as Boston was en route to a World Series title.
Bradley Jr. was also a standout for the Gamecocks, slashing .247/.346/778 with six home runs and 27 RBI in 2011.
Over his South Carolina career, he hit .331 with 30 home runs and over 130 RBI over the course of 172 games.
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He was an integral piece to both 2010 and 2011’s national title runs and left South Carolina one of the best outfielders in program history.
Bradley Jr. now comes to a Blue Jays team in the thick of the wildcard race.
They are currently 11 games above .500 and two games up on Tampa Bay for the top wildcard spot. Seattle, Baltimore, Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox are all within three games of the wildcard as well.
The Blue Jays are hoping Bradley Jr. can give them a veteran presence that helps propel them to a deep run the rest of the season and into, hopefully, the playoffs.
He’ll get reunited with Merrifield, who was traded to Toronto as the trade deadline closed.
Merrifield, who was famous for the national title-clinching hit in 2010, is one of the most versatile players in the big leagues currently.
His numbers have dipped slightly in 2022, but he’s still slashing .244/.292/.351 with six home runs and 43 RBI.
Since joining the Blue Jays, Merrifield is 6-for-19 with one RBI, a stolen base and seven strikeouts. He doesn’t have an extra-base hit yet.
“It all kind of happened quickly. It transpired over the last two or three days,” “I’m excited to be here. It’s a great team. It’s a contending team.”
