LA Angels 2018 4th Round Pick Kyle Bradish starting strong

The LA Angels need pitching badly as this year’s staff is not cutting it. There is hope on the horizon in the Angels 4th round pick Single-A pitcher Kyle Bradish.

However the biggest issue with the LA Angels pitchers is keeping them healthy.  Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs are good when healthy. J.C. Ramirez and Nick Tropeano could also fill out the rotation nicely, but again the key words are when healthy. In the high minors (Triple-A) Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria, and Patrick Sandoval all have potential.  Luis Madero at Double-A does as well.

In Single-A Inland Empire the Angels have a plethora of young talented arms that can throw in the mid-to-high 90’s. One such pitcher is right-hander Kyle Bradish.  Bradish was the Angels 4th round pick in 2018 out of New Mexico State University.  He possesses a fastball that can reach up to 96 MPH with a nasty slider and a good curve ball.  He has also been working on a change-up.

So far this season in Inland Empire he has made eight starts striking out 36 batters in 33 innings of work going 2-2 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  The 66’ers and manager Ryan Barba have been very cautious with Bradish and have not let him go more than 90 pitches in any of his outings.  Consequently he has only made it past the 5th inning once.

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“Kyle goes out there every night and competes.  The goal for him as with all our young pitchers is to focus on locating their pitches and trying to induce weak contact and get some strikeouts,” Barba said. “Kyle has a good arm and has been throwing the ball well so far.  He just has to keep working on his craft and put in the work so he can reach his ultimate goal of the major leagues.”

Bradish best outing was a week ago when he pitched five inning of shutout ball striking out nine batters and only walking one against the defending champions the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes  He has allowed one run or less in five of his eight outings this season and has never allowed more than three runs in any start.

“Its fun its baseball you get to do that for a living is great. At this level everyone can hit compared to college where only some teams have good line-ups,” said Bradish a Phoenix, Arizona native. “It’s my first year, I just want to get adapted to everything, have fun, and pitch good.”

Once the Angels drafted Bradish last June they shut him down until this Spring.  For Bradish that was the toughest thing and he was itching to get back on the mound when the 66’ers season started in April.

“I was very excited, I was ready to get out there and throw. It had been awhile since I had thrown so I was just trying to get back into things,” Bradish said. “I was trying to get my timing down with my mechanics and everything. I feel like I have thrown well.”

As for his thoughts on being in the Angel organization. “Its great to be in an organization where you have a lot of good young talent and the best player in baseball in Mike Trout.  Shohei Ohtani is also fun to watch,” Bradish said. “I hope to see some of the major league pitchers down here doing their rehab so I can learn from them and pick their brains on things.”

The Angels have a few guys with great potential Griffin Canning and Shohei Ohtani. However, they need so more help and guys like Bradish and Madero could be the wave of the future.

If Bradish to pitch well you will see him up in the big leagues before you know it.  He will most likely be in Single-A at least through the All-Star Break which for the California League which is mid-June and he potentially could be an all-star.