The Arizona Diamondbacks traded starter Trevor Cahill (and sent $6.5 million) to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday in a move that opened up a spot in the rotation. Manager Chip Hale looks to be shifting his through process because of the organization's top prospect.
Archie Bradley was the team's first round pick (seventh overall) in the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft and has risen to become one of the best prospects in baseball. He was supposed to make his major league debut in 2014, but injuries significantly hampered his ability to stay on the field and he ended up pitching in only 18 games between three levels in the minors (3-7 with a 4.45 ERA and 1.506 WHIP).
This spring has been a different story though.
The 22-year-old finished 3-2 with a 1.61 ERA, 1.164 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in six games (four starts), totaling 22 1/3 innings. As a result, it appears as if the team dealt Cahill to finally give Bradley a chance to prove his worth on the Diamondbacks' 25-man roster. Nothing is set in stone, but with Patrick Corbin and Bronson Arroyo sidelined as they recover from Tommy John surgery, Bradley could get an exceptional opportunity.
"We're mulling over all our different scenarios. But he's pitched so well that he's really made a tough decision on us," Hale said of Bradley, via Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com . "We're definitely thinking."
"It appears his performance against the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday, in which he allowed just one hit and zero runs while walking three and striking out two in six innings, may have put his name back in the conversation," writes Green.
If that's the case, it looks like Bradley will join Josh Collmenter, Jeremy Hellickson, Rubby De La Rosa and Chase Anderson in the starting rotation to begin 2015. Corbin and Arroyo are slated to return at some point in the middle of the season, so it's likely Hale will use his best judgment to determine who he thinks is best suited to remain in the rotation when that time comes.
Whatever the case, it looks like it's up to Bradley to prove he's capable of being an everyday starter for an entire season.
UPDATE: The Arizona Diamondbacks have named Archie Bradley their No. 5 starter.
