The Tampa Bay Rays will show off their top prospect Wednesday night against the Boston Red Sox.
The Rays on Tuesday placed pitcher Zach Eflin on the 15-day injured list with low back tightness and recalled Taj Bradley from Triple-A Durham.
Bradley, the Rays’ No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will start Wednesday’s game at Tropicana Field, per Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash, marking the 22-year-old right-hander’s Major League Baseball debut.
Eflin signed a three-year, $40 million contract with the Rays over the offseason after spending his first seven seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Red Sox were rumored to be interested in Eflin before the Florida native’s decision to join Tampa Bay. He’ll miss at least two turns through the rotation.
Bradley not only is the Rays’ top prospect. He’s also the No. 18 prospect in MLB, per MLB Pipeline, which speaks to his ceiling as a potential stalwart in Tampa Bay’s rotation. Bradley was a fifth-round pick in 2018 and spent the 2022 season split between Double-A and Triple-A.
Here’s an excerpt of MLB Pipeline’s write-up on Bradley:
After experiencing a velocity bump in late 2020, the 6-foot-2 right-hander now throws 94-96 mph with his heater, touching 98, and he spots it well around the zone. He calls his best secondary pitch a cutter, and we’ll do the same, even though it could land in the slider territory. All the same, the mid-80s offering breaks late and plays well off the fastball. An 89-91 mph split-finger changeup doesn’t offer a ton of separation but has given Bradley another suitable fading option against lefties, while his mid-70s curve is more for show in early counts.
The Red Sox will counter with Chris Sale in the third game of their four-game series against the Rays. Corey Kluber and Jeffrey Springs are expected to start for Boston and Tampa Bay, respectively, in Thursday’s finale.
