Diamondbacks prospect Archie Bradley looking for bounce-back year

Archie Bradley wouldn't change much. If he had it to do over again, if he could rewind last year's spring training back to the beginning, he would still set his sights on the Opening Day roster. He would still push hard, would still expect a lot out of himself.

But he would change one thing – the same thing he plans to handle differently this year in his second go-round in big league camp. He would stop worrying so much about what others are expecting of him.

"Maybe I would have toned it down a little bit as far as not letting all the media and all the, I guess, hype or expectations ride on me," he said. "I put pressure on myself anyway, and my goal was to make the team last year. It's the same this year, but I was so caught up on every pitch and every outing. You just can't pitch like that. You don't succeed when your mind-frame is like that and you put that much pressure on yourself."

A lot went wrong for Bradley last year. He faltered late in spring training and was sent back to the minors. He struggled early then was shut down with elbow discomfort. And when he returned, he struggled some more.

Still, by most accounts, he remains not only one of the Diamondbacks' top prospects, but also one of the better pitching prospects in baseball. In an organization desperate for frontline starting pitching, Bradley, 22, might still represent the Diamondbacks' best hope.

And yet everything feels different this year as he enters camp. The media attention is scaled back, the hype dialed down. He enters camp residing somewhere between untouchable prospect and just another guy. He has shown he is capable of having a bad year. Now he must show he is capable of making a comeback.

"For me, I would definitely say after the bad year I had last year, I'm coming in this year with a chip on my shoulder with something to prove," he said. "Last year was just a bad year for me. I'm looking for a bounce-back year."

In 83 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, Bradley posted a 4.45 ERA. His control took a step back and his strikeouts dropped. More concerning was Bradley's stuff, which seemed slightly diminished from the year before. His fastball lost a couple of miles per hour and scouts said his secondary pitches lacked the same bite.

"I never felt like the ball was coming out the way I wanted to," he said. "I felt like the whole season I was searching for that and I never found it."

But peel back the struggles and positives emerge. Aside from learning how to handle expectations, he said he also discovered how to get through a down year, a lesson he expects to recall often whenever he struggles again.

"You don't skate through the minor leagues, go to the big leagues and never fail," Diamondbacks pitching coordinator Dan Carlson said. "You go through all the good pitchers and they just don't walk through leagues."

As an example, Carlson pointed to Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer, who was sent back to the minors both with the Diamondbacks and the Detroit Tigers before his career finally took off.

"I'm glad that (Bradley's) first failure was in the minor leagues," Carlson said, "because it teaches you how to get up off the mat."

From Carlson's perspective, there were more positives. He thought Bradley gained confidence with his change-up, using the pitch effectively at times in the Arizona Fall League, where he also introduced a new pitch, a slider/cutter that Carlson sees as a potential weapon against right-handed hitters.

Bradley believes his success will ultimately hinge on the most fundamental of skills: fastball command. His struggles there, he says, are confined to short bursts, and he believes cutting those erratic stretches from a few batters to a few pitches would make a huge difference.

"That's what makes (Clayton) Kershaw, (Jake) Peavy, (Madison) Bumgarner, all those guys, so great," he said. "After one or two pitches off, they make the adjustment. I think that's my biggest deal, figuring out, 'OK, am I leaving early? Am I not staying back?' Things that I'm talking to some of these older guys about that I'm trying to figure out is how to make the adjustment quicker."

Some in the organization believe Bradley went to such lengths last season to improve his strike-throwing that it ultimately detracted from his effectiveness. They hope Bradley returns to his confident and aggressive self.

"I don't think he's ever going to be spotting up perfect on the corners," Carlson said. "I think that detracts from what he does. I think his fastball, curveball, slider and change-up are going to be plenty effective enough. I think it's a mentality, getting back to being the aggressor."

Bradley had moments late last year when he did just that, including in the fall league All-Star Game, when he threw two strong innings, hitting 96 mph with his fastball. So far, he said, it's carried over into camp. He hopes it continues.

"I'm ready to get some hitters in the box," he said, "and see how the ball comes out."

Photos Diamondbacks spring train