Perhaps this shouldn't be all that surprising. Bradley was always considered a top prospect - top three in the Boston system in 2012 and 2013 - and his stat lines at some of the minor league stop-offs aren't far out from the performance he has flashed in the 2016 campaign. We were spoilt in 2012 by the unbelievable breakout performances of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper as rookies. The truth is that only the generational talents can seamlessly slip into Major League play; often the top prospects require time for adjustments and improvements and Bradley's solid production in 2015 was a harbinger for the huge campaign that was to come in 2016. However, even the most vocal Bradley supporters when he was in the minor leagues accepted that his calling card was elite center field defense and that his upside at the plate was high OBPs and 20-steal speed. The version now roaming the outfield in Boston has legitimate power - he is top 20 in the major leagues in slugging - and his defense has actually taken a step back (negative UZR for the first time in his career). This is not the case of top prospect come good, but instead the process of a struggling hitter taking the time to completely revamp his swing and his game and become one of the American League's most productive hitters.
So, what has Bradley improved? In 2013 and 2014, Jackie Bradley hit just .192 against four seam fastballs with one home run, and as a result he was pounded with hard stuff in the zone which he showed an inability to do any damage with. So far in 2016, Bradley has hit .275 off four-seamers and has mashed cutters and sinkers too, with eight home runs on high velocity pitches, slugging well over .600. After seeing 66% hard pitches in 2014, Bradley's adjustments have seen that number fall to 58% this season. With an increase in off-speed pitches, one would expect Bradley to struggle against those, but one would be wrong again. Bradley has feasted on off-speed pitches this season, showing real improvements since 2014 in cutting down on strikeouts.
The current iteration of Jackie Bradley Jr has shown a new-found ability to turn on high-velocity pitches with impressive power numbers but has also shown an adjustment against off-speed pitches, cutting down his strikeouts in that department too and turning into something of a complete hitter. Despite the fact that he has been more aggressive this season, swinging at over 25% of first pitches, his elite plate discipline has remained a calling card, with walk percentages consistently above 10% that allow him to sustain on-base percentages comfortably over .350. The .345 BABIP he has posted this season may be unsustainable but there is little else to suggest that his adjustments are not real and that he cannot set a new baseline as an elite on-base producer with more than respectable power numbers.
So, now we know how Bradley has managed to turn around his results we can take a look at what he has done to achieve this. In April 2014, Bradley set up in a conventional stance but after just a month he had changed tack, opting instead to load his hands lower as seen in the clip against the Reds.
April 2014
May 2014
Barely scraping by at the mendoza line, Bradley once again opted for a change in swing mechanics in July, this time drastically altering his set up to an open leg stance closer to the plate which clearly has his timing out of whack on this swing against tough lefty Chris Sale as his toe tap occurs way before the swing actually starts. With the struggles ongoing, Bradley is unceremoniously demoted to AAA, not to resurface until the middle of the 2015 campaign.
Now, Bradley has a much higher load, one he first debuted in Pawtucket last season and his swing looks infinitely more balanced with better timing and a better ability to cover all four corners of the plate. On this home run swing, his weight is firmly back and he produces real torque from his hips, several of his home runs this season have been scorching line drives to left-center field that are a testament to his power from the lower half.
Bradley's struggles against the outside half in 2014 have been completely reversed in the 2016 season, as he has mashed pitches out over the plate, although up and in remains a weakness for the young left-hander.
In 2014, Bradley struggled at the plate, and after a disappointing 2013 campaign he found himself pressing for immediate results which lead to a number of big swing alterations within a short period of time. In 2015 at AAA he finally found a consistently comfortable approach at the plate, which allowed him not just better ability to reach the outside pitch but also the leverage to hit for more power than was ever predicted of him as a rookie.
Jackie Bradley Jr is not the first - and won't be the last - top prospect to struggle initially in the Majors before making adjustments and finding success. The Red Sox should be commended for showing considerable patience with him (and indeed Xander Bogaerts) after his poor performances in 2013 and 2014, and they are reaping the rewards of that patience today. Bradley will never be a 30 homer threat, but he has more power today than was ever expected of him and his wonderful plate discipline and strong defence - assuming the metrics this season are an aberration - have made his ceiling particularly high, and Boston fans should feel pretty happy about having him roaming the Fenway outfield over the next few seasons.
