Diamondbacks may promote top prospect Archie Bradley

Arizona is considering calling on the young southpaw to help straighten out its struggling rotation.

Jul 2, 2013, 4:21 PM UTC

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Norm Hall

Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers is not "overly crazy" about the current trade market for starting pitching, and so is planning to use internal options to solve the club's rotation woes. Among the several minor-league arms are in contention for a test run in Phoenix is young right-hander Archie Bradley, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

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Ranked by Baseball America as the no. 25 prospect in the game prior to the 2013 season, the 20-year-old has watched his prospect stock skyrocket over the first three months of the year. The righty, signed with the 7th overall pick in the 2011 Draft, began the year at High-A ball, but when that proved too easy he made his way to Double-A, where he has continued to demolish the competition.

Bradley owns a 1.79 earned-run average and 10.1 strikeouts per nine through his first 95⅓ innings (16 starts), and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. He allowed a season-high six runs in a start two weeks ago, but then rebounded with a solid eight-inning, seven-strikeout performance last Thursday.

The Diamondbacks began the year flooded with rotation depth, but have been hampered by the injury bug and subpar performances. Brandon McCarthy and Trevor Cahill are both on the disabled list for an indefinite period, leaving Towers and the D'Backs with two rotation holes to fill before one even begins to consider what to do about the continued struggles of Ian Kennedy and Wade Miley. Despite the early success of young southpaw Patrick Corbin -- who is still undefeated -- Arizona's rotation holds the fifth-worst ERA in the National League at 4.20.

Other than Bradley, the D'Backs are also considering another Double-A left-hander, David Holmberg, and Triple-A southpaw Tyler Skaggs. Right-hander Randall Delgado has pitched fairly well in spot-starter duty over the last month -- a 3.50 ERA in three starts -- and is likely to keep one of the two open spots should he continue put up solid numbers.