Taj Ali Bradley (born March 20, 2001) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Bradley grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and attended

Redan High School Redan High School is a public secondary school of the DeKalb County School District located in Redan, Georgia. Redan was established in 1976 by the DeKalb County School District. The school's mascot is the Raider. Both Redan High School and its ...

. 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. The

selected Bradley in the fifth round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

. 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 The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

where he went 2–5 with 3.18 over 11 starts and 12 total appearances. 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 The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

. Over eight starts with Bowling Green, he went 3–0 with a 1.96 ERA and 42 strikeouts over innings. Bradley was assigned to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits at the start of the 2022 season. He was selected to play in the 2022

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. Bradley was promoted to the Triple-A

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

following the conclusion of the MLB All-Star break. Bradley was optioned to Triple-A Durham to begin the 2023 season. The Rays promoted him to the major leagues on April 11 to make his major league debut the following day. Bradley started the game on April 12, pitching 5 innings and striking out 8, while allowing 3 runs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Taj 2001 births Living people African-American baseball players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Bowling Green Hot Rods players Charleston RiverDogs players Durham Bulls players Gulf Coast Rays players Major League Baseball pitchers Montgomery Biscuits players Sportspeople from Stone Mountain, Georgia Princeton Rays players Tampa Bay Rays players