A Confident Jackie Bradley Jr. Ups Hitting Streak To 15 Games
BOSTON (CBS) -- Throughout his career, there has been some concern that Jackie Bradley Jr.'s bat would never catch up to the amazing defense he displays on a nightly basis.
That concern has subsided considerably as of late, with Bradley tearing the cover off the baseball the last three weeks. Much like last August, when Bradley hit .354 with a .429 OBP in 24 games, he has become a very difficult out for opposing pitchers. He's using the entire field to do his damage, and has become one confident hitter whenever he steps into the batter's box.
That confidence is translating into some serious production for the Red Sox. Bradley upped his hit streak to 15 games with a 3-for-5 night in Boston's 14-7 pounding of the Oakland Athletics on Monday. He blasted his first grand slam since his college days at the University of South Carolina, driving in six runs in the Boston rout.
"It's a lot of fun," Bradley said of his first grand slam as a major leaguer. "It was a lot of fun to be able to get some runs for our team and ultimately win the ballgame."
His bases loaded production is nothing new, with Bradley going 6-for-8 with 15 RBIs with the bases juiced over the last two seasons. Monday night's slam came in the sixth inning, upping Boston's lead to 13-4 at the time, and was his third and final hit of the evening. He now owns a .303 average on the season, with his .550 slugging percentage for the year second only to David Ortiz's .688 on the Red Sox.
Bradley's 15-game hit streak is the longest current streak in the majors. In that span, he's gone 21-for-55 with four doubles, three triples, four homers and 17 RBIs. It's not the kind of production you'd expect out of the No. 8 hitter in any lineup, but that's what confidence can do to any player's bat.
"I think confidence [is the key] to anybody. Whether it's a pitcher, hitter or just in everyday life," he said after the win. "You've got to be confident in what you're doing or more than likely you're not going to succeed."
The Red Sox have exercised extreme patience with Bradley, still just a .225 hitter over 269 career games. They stuck with him throughout his early-career struggles and his late-season slump in 2015, holding onto the intriguing enigma over the offseason when they had a logjam in the outfield and other teams displayed some interest.
His offensive production, paired with his always stellar defense, is starting to prove that patience was worth it. The Red Sox never losing faith that his bat would come around, and most importantly, neither did Bradley.
"I never lost confidence, never," he said. "I wouldn't know how tough it would be to regain. I just knew I was going to continue to work and that's all I can do."
The ups and downs along the way were all part of the growing process, and what we see now is a young player's confidence evolving into a natural part of Bradley's game. He is unlikely to keep up such a torrid pace at the plate, but he's rounding into the player the Boston brass and fans had hoped to see on a nightly basis when he first earned the starting center fielder's job back on Opening Day in 2013.
