Philadelphia Phillies: Signing RHP Archie Bradley is a major “win”

The Philadelphia Phillies have finally landed an impact reliever.

Following Liam Hendricks’ massive three-year/$54 million contract with the Chicago White Sox, the general vibe around baseball was that the free agent relief pitcher market would finally start to settle into place. Considering the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies possessed arguably the worst bullpen in MLB history last year, they were obviously a team that many envisioned signing a reliever or two this winter.

Right on cue, Dave Dombrowski and company have pounced on their first bullpen upgrade. According to Mark Feinsand and Ben Nicholson-Smith, the Phillies have agreed to terms with RHP Archie Bradley on a one-year deal worth $6 million.

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A former starter turned relief pitcher, Bradley has had a very successful past few seasons in the MLB. He’s coming off a fantastic 2020 campaign where he posted a 2.95 ERA and 1.091 WHIP across 18.1 innings (pitching for both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds), and he had similarly strong seasons in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Even his worst season (2019), was still above average compared to most MLB relievers, as he posted a 3.52 ERA across 71+ innings.

When looking at his entire pitching resume since making the change to the bullpen in 2017, Bradley has undoubtedly been one of the better relief arms in baseball:

Bradley enters a Philadelphia Phillies bullpen that obviously needs a ton of help moving forward. Outside of Hector Neris and newly acquired Jose Alvarado, the team doesn’t have a lot in terms of established veteran relief arms. Connor Brogdon and JoJo Romero flashed some potential in 2020, but it would be foolish of the Phillies to expect anything too major from the pair in 2021. Just off resume and name value alone, Bradley instantly projects to be Joe Girardi’s go-to arm coming out of the bullpen this upcoming season.

Bradley has closing experience in the past (primarily 2019), so he could easily slot into that role for the Phillies. This would have an inherently positive trickle down effect on the rest of the Phillies pitching staff, as it would allow a guy like Neris – someone who should really be in a 7th/8th inning role – the ability to step away from the high pressure spot of having to close down ballgames.

It’s unknown if Girardi and the Phillies plan to use Bradley in a 9th inning role, but he’s definitely their best option currently on the roster. His K/9 rate of 10.9 that he posted in 2019 (when he primarily operated as a closer) is worth highlighting here as well, as high strikeout numbers is something Dombrowski has repeatedly targeted this offseason.

It’s also worth mentioning that Bradley signed for just $6 million, which is a fairly small deal considering what guys like Trevor May and the aforementioned Hendricks got. Such a minor financial commitment leaves the door open for the Phillies to still re-sign J.T. Realmuto or Didi Gregorius, or potentially even both.