Our 2026 breakout star series continues with Twins pitcher Taj Bradley, who had a career campaign this past year.
The Twins stayed competitive for most of the 2026 season for several reasons. One, the AL Central was one of two that didn’t have a clear front-runner until the final week(s) of the year. Two, Minnesota stayed competitive thanks to relatively good starting pitching, even without Pablo Lopez. Taj Bradley’s rise was a big reason why the Twins were in it deep into 2026.
A new home in Minnesota
When the Twins traded away Griffin Jax to the Rays for Taj Bradley, it offered a fresh start for both players.
Jax, who wanted out of Minnesota after hearing of the club’s plans to sell in 2025, earned another chance to start with Tampa Bay. But for Bradley, a new shot. However, things had to be different for the right-hander, who is still in his mid-20s despite being a Major League pitcher for parts of four seasons.
Bradley was a supremely talented pitcher just on stuff alone. However, execution at times was a problem in Tampa Bay. It led to a steep dip in strikeouts during the 2025 season, a year in which he even admitted to not looking too much into the Rays’ pre-scout work on opposing teams.
Things, though, can turn on a dime, particularly for a pitcher with Bradley’s talents. He ended 2026 as one of 13 pitchers in the Majors this season with 200+ strikeouts. Bradley punched out a team-best 205 strikeouts over 178.1 IP, along with a 3.73 ERA.
Bradley didn’t induce a ton of chase. However, as you can gander at his strikeout numbers, there was a ton of swing-and-miss (we’ll get to that in a second). He did live in the zone a lot, which did lead to some high Barrel% rates on his four-seamer, curveball, and cutter. That, though, was just a small blip on the radar.
Much better results versus lefties
Perhaps the most notable standout amongst Bradley’s numbers was the change in splits versus left-handed hitters.
During the 2025 campaign, Bradley was, statistically, better against right-handed hitters than lefties. Not a total shock whatsoever. But with a near-equal number of outs recorded against hitters from both sides, left-handed hitters slashed .237/.319/.431 with 12 home runs and a .750 OPS. Against right-handed hitters, the average (.249) was higher. The slug (.375), though, was much lower.
Before getting into things that helped, first take a look at the pitch usage from year to year between 2024 and 2026. Less of a lean on the curveball, and an uptick on the splitter, cutter, and four-seam fastball. In 2026, the curve was used 9%, almost less than half (15.7%) of what is was in 2025.
Against left-handed hitters, Bradley didn’t shelve that fastball as much. In fact, he attacked with it more on average, while also increasing the usage of his splitter and cut-slider.
The splitter was a real gem for Bradley this season. It played tremendously well, optically, off that carrying fastball of Bradley’s. And as one would expect, a ton of swing-and-miss off that pitch down, particularly outside of the zone. If Bradley was getting you to swing at it out of the zone — which wasn’t much but still — it more often than not resulted in a whiff.
Aside, there were also some minor tweaks to his delivery out of the stretch. In 2025, the glove is up by the chest.
In 2026, the glove is down by the belt, and it’s just more of a simpler delivery down the hill.
Why do I mention that? Overall, Bradley was fantastic with runners in scoring position in 2026. This past season, batters slashed .227/.284/.326 (.610) with a runner on second, third, or both. What was that line in 2025? .285/.340/.472.
Looking ahead
The Twins have done well with pitchers acquired from Tampa Bay over the years. Five years ago, Minnesota turned pending free agent Nelson Cruz into Joe Ryan, who was the ace of the Twins this past season. And should Ryan still be with Minnesota in 2027, Bradley would likely line up as a #2 right behind the former, with Pablo Lopez waiting in the wings.
If the Twins have all three at some point in that rotation in 2027, that’s quite the top three.
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