Archie Bradley rediscovers himself and finds path to D-backs' debut
PHOENIX -- Before leaving for school in the morning, the Bradleys would stow Archie's baseball gear in the back of Old Blue and storm into another busy day. After class let out, Pam Bradley would drive Archie and younger brother Alex the 90 minutes from Muskogee, Okla., to O'Brien Park in Tulsa, where Bradley's club team practiced and played its games.
Archie and Alex would do their homework on the way -- Pam, their mother, was an elementary, middle school and high school principal -- and Pam and Alex would relax with a walk around the park while Archie played. Then they would load up, get back on the Muskogee Turnpike, and do it again two days later.
The Bradleys did that for four years, and those were the short runs -- the locals -- during the early days of Archie's baseball journey. On one summer marathon, Pam and the boys were gone for three weeks on the tournament circuit, where Archie played for as many as three teams at a time. Oklahoma to New Mexico to Colorado to Arizona. St. Louis to Colorado Springs to Steamboat Springs, Colo., a tournament at each stop. One summer they hit 13 states.
Pam's position as an educator allowed her the freedom to go, and she was glad to do it while husband Charles stayed home to manage the family business. The travel proved too much for the family Nissan, but not for Old Blue, the Chevy Suburban that has more than 200,000 miles. It is the same one the family used to deliver Archie's belongings to Arizona this spring. The Bradleys were in it for the long haul.
After manager Chip Hale told Bradley that he had made the Diamondbacks' starting rotation last Thursday, Bradley was overcome. He sat in his his locker cubicle and cried, then he made the most emotional phone calls of his life, telephoning his parents and his grandmother, who he visits once a week in the off-season to share a meal or just chat. Mom, your son is a major leaguer.
"Getting to call my mom and dad is something I will never, ever forget," Bradley said on Tuesday, four days before his scheduled major league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
"I can't explain how grateful I am for what my mom and dad did for me. My mom and dad giving up their summers for me to play baseball. Everything they have sacrificed and done for me, getting to call them and tell them that I'm here. There is nothing I will ever be able to do to let them fully know how much I appreciate what they have done."
After receiving his signing bonus as the seventh player taken in the 2011 draft, Bradley was able to help his father retire. Pam jokingly calls Charles her bionic man -- he has had two knee replacements and two partial shoulder replacements from a lifetime on the job. Archie, who is named from Charles' father, flew his parents in for the Opening Day ceremonies at Chase Field on Monday. Both will be on hand, along with 50 or 55 other friends and family, for his start on Saturday against Clayton Kershaw.
The D-backs are aware of the hoopla a Bradley-Kershaw matchup could produce, inasmuch as Kershaw has won three of the last four NL Cy Young awards. Not that it factored in.
"It didn't, just because it was his day (to pitch)", D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "He'll do his job on his side of it. He'll have to face Kershaw maybe three times in the order. ... I think he'll be excited. We're excited for him."
At 2, Archie Bradley could swing a golf club and hit the ball. At 4, he played on a baseball team with 6-year olds because the coaches wanted him to move up.
At 22, he is one of the youngest starting pitchers in baseball, securing the role with a strong spring that made Trevor Cahill expendable. Bradley has gone through a lot in his three-plus years in the organization, including the pressure that a No. 1 pick can face not only from the outside but also internally. He was a candidate for the starting rotation last spring after an eye-popping 2013 but was returned to the minors the last week of camp. A forearm injury followed, and his numbers suffered.
"I lost who I was last year," Bradley said. "I was so caught up in making this team, and then I didn't. Every outing when I came back was trying to show them in one outing that I was ready to pitch in the big leagues. Didn't throw the ball very well. Struggled. Had doubts. Didn't believe in myself or who I am as a pitcher.
"I was so caught up in worrying about everything outside of pitching. I was so caught up in the media and their expectations, everyone's expectations, to take care of what I needed to do. (Last year) humbled me and kind of exposed me, but at the same time it helped me so much in understanding what I needed to work on.
"Just took a long hard look at that and got to work and feel like I am in a lot better place right now. That's the biggest thing this off-season, this spring and even now. All I'm worried about my pitching and my (work) in between. Everything else will take care of itself."
Bradley was 3-2 with a 1.61 ERA in six appearances this spring, and he credits pitching coach Mike Harkey. The two were together in the Arizona Fall League last year, and as a former No. 1 pick Harkey understood the complications that expectations bring. Bradley has talked to Josh Collmenter and Bronson Arroyo about the importance of command while continuing to develop his curve ball and changeup. If it means his fastball is a tick lower than the 96-97 mph range, it is a tradeoff he will take.
"If you would have asked me that two years ago, I would have been upset, because all you care about is throwing hard and your velocity," Bradley said, "but for me it is about competing and making quality pitches. Whether it is at 88-90 or 90-92, I'm not worried about it any more.
"You watch (Greg) Maddux for years and years and years. There are tons of guys you see throwing like that. For me, it is all about understanding who I am and what it takes for me to get right here. And now it is about finding a way to stay here."