Taj Bradley Is Building An Ace Repertoire

Minneapolis – When the Minnesota Twins traded for Taj Bradley at last year’s trade deadline, he wasn’t arriving in the circumstances he was hoping for.

He had a 4.74 ERA, allowed 23 hits, nine walks, and struck out 18 over his previous five outings, and the Tampa Bay Rays had optioned him to Triple-A Durham a week before the deadline. When the Twins made the one-for-one trade for him, sending Griffin Jax to the Rays, they opted to keep him in Triple-A with the St. Paul Saints for three starts before joining their rotation.

Bradley’s results with the Twins to finish out 2025 were a bit rocky. However, he pitched well in his last start on September 24. He only allowed one run on two hits and two walks in Texas, while striking out nine in six innings of work. It was a good end to a tumultuous season, and something to build off of in the off-season.

The improvements Taj Bradley made have shown up early in 2026. Through his first three starts, Bradley owns a 1.08 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, walked only four batters, and struck out 22 in 16 ⅔ innings. His latest outing was Tuesday, where he outdueled Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in a 4-2 Twins win and had his seventh career game with 10 or more strikeouts, which highlighted how much Bradley has grown in his short time with the Twins.

"I just think I want to be able to throw strikes with all my pitches,” Bradley said postgame Tuesday. “Get in and out of the zone with both of them, get two strikes early, and stuff like that.”

“I think there is no doubt in anyone’s eyes in this room that he was an ace-caliber pitcher,” said Ryan Jeffers, who’s caught two of three of Bradley’s starts. “We couldn’t have been more excited to get him over here. It’s not often you get a chance to have a starter that throws 100 in your rotation.”

Taj Bradley showed flashes of 100 MPH on his fastball in his second start of the year in Kansas City, and has maintained an average fastball velo of 97.3 MPH this year. He’s the only Twins starter to hit 100 MPH this season, and something that excites Bradley and his teammates with what he can do against opposing hitters in addition to his other pitches.

“That’s my identity, that’s who I am, and stuff like that, and mixing other pitches off that can make the fastball that much better,” Bradley said. “Even if the fastball’s not swing and miss, it got me some flyouts and stuff that I needed, so I thought it was a good pitch.”

The real nasty pitch for Bradley so far this season has been his splitter, and that was on showcase against the Tigers Tuesday night. It generated nine swings and misses, leading to six of his 10 strikeouts. Coming into camp, though, Bradley was unsure of how it would work against hitters. He allowed more hits (22) than strikeouts (17) on it last season.

“I just feel like I was just trying to wrap my head around, like something left and wondering if it was ever going to come back, but I just worked hard at it,” he said. “Had some rough bullpens with it, had some great bullpens with it. Live and learn. Then, going into spring training this year, just said, 'Forget all the metrics about it. If I feel comfortable with it, I'll just make it a good pitch.”

“We hear about this splitter that’s developing,” said Jeffers. “‘Hey, he’s working on his splitter. That’s going to be the key.’ [bradley] comes into spring, and that splitter is a legit weapon. He can throw it behind in counts. He can throw it whenever he wants. It’s 93 with just nasty movement. It’s a real, real weapon because guys have to respect that thing now.”

For Bradley’s teammates who had to face him and his splitter early in camp, they saw how dangerous a weapon it could be for him after their own challenges against it.

“He’s lights out,” said Twins first baseman Josh Bell. “He’s really commanding his fastball; it’s an elite fastball. I saw it in camp; it’s a fastball that is hoppy, it jumps at you. You kind of have to start early. He was also landing the off-speed, throwing the splitter just underneath the zone for chase. It’s definitely a recipe for success when you’re throwing multiple pitches for strikes.”

All these early-season successes are paying off well for Bradley’s confidence. It’s especially beneficial for a Twins team that is down an ace starter, with Pablo López getting season-ending Tommy John surgery early in spring training.

Bradley has shown he can step into a bigger starting pitching role, going deep into starts, saving the bullpen, and keeping his teammates close in games while the offense does its job to get him a win.

“I think confidence continues to grow,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “Not only for us, but for him. To be able to go through that lineup, in our division, go toe-to-toe with Skubal, did not show any signs that he tried to do more than he should have.

“By him buying into the stuff that goes on before his start, the game planning and the off-the-mound stuff, by him buying into that more, I think it gives him more of a comfortable feeling to trust me and then to go out there and just be the version of Taj.”

After his first home start at Target Field on Tuesday, Twins fans in attendance saw up close just what Taj Bradley could be capable of all season. While attendance was small, they gave a loud ovation that made him feel appreciated for their support throughout the rest of the season, and provided the Twins with the next ace pitcher they needed in their rotation.

“It meant a lot,” he said. “The people that came really care about the team and stuff like that. They support us. It just felt good. It felt louder than the amount of people that were there, and I think that just shows the excitement they have for the team and stuff like that.”