Apr 5, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (41) gestures to the dugout after hitting a single during the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium.
Jay Biggerstaff
USA TODAY Sports
After more than a year out of Major League Baseball, Jackie Bradley Jr. is on the path back to the big leagues.
On Tuesday, the former South Carolina baseball star signed a minor-league deal with the New York Mets. He will join the Triple-A Syracuse Mets.
Bradley, 34, has not played in an MLB game in over a year, last seeing action 13 months ago as a member of the Kansas City Royals. He became a free agent after the Royals released him last June and, while some thought he might retire, Bradley kept training in the offseason in efforts to keep his career going.
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He’s spent the last few months playing for the Long Island Ducks, an independent team in the Atlantic League. And over the past month, Bradley has been super-human — recording at least one hit in each of his past 28 games. This season, he’s hitting over .400 with a dozen home runs.
“Jackie has been incredibly deserving of this opportunity,” Ducks Manager Lew Ford said in a statement. “He has been one of the Atlantic League’s best hitters this season, and we look forward to watching him continue pursuing his goal of returning to the Major Leagues.”
Known in Columbia as a massive piece of South Carolina’s back-to-back national championships iunder coach (and current athletic director) Ray Tanner, Bradley won the 2010 College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award and was selected 40th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 2011 MLB Draft.
In nine seasons with Boston, Bradley was a part of the Red Sox 2018 World Series squad and made the American League All-Star team in 2016. A lifetime .225 hitter, Bradley is known as a reliable outfielder and has a gold glove to him name. But in his last three MLB seasons, Bradley struggled at the plate, hitting .163 (2021), .203 (2022) and .133 (2023).
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Publish date : 2024-07-23 16:57:00
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