Taj Bradley matched a career high with 11 strikeouts on Wednesday.
Taj Bradley walked off the mound in Houston on Wednesday having thrown one of the best games of his career, capping a stretch that looked nothing like this back in May, when a strained pectoral muscle interrupted his best run yet.
His first few starts back were shaky enough that some of the shine had come off his year.
Bradley worked five innings against the Astros, allowed one run on four hits, and struck out 11 batters, tying a career high he has now reached four times, as Minnesota closed out the series with an 8-3 win.
"He's got his energy back," Shelton said after the game. "He really has not let anything affect him. In today's game, he kind of took it into his own hands. He just said, 'All right, you know, we're going to go punch outs.' And then he had what, 11 total and a bunch in a row. So, overall, really good outing."
Finding His Rhythm Again
Bradley opened the year nearly untouchable, posting an ERA under one through his first two starts and settling at 2.87 through his first eight.
He was arguably the best pitcher on Minnesota's staff before the injury hit in early May, and the return was anything but smooth.
His ERA climbed into the mid-threes over his next several starts back, including a four-run first inning against the White Sox that showed just how far his command had slipped.
Wednesday looked like the pitcher the Twins hoped they were getting when they sent a good reliever in Griffin Jax to Tampa Bay for him last summer.
His season line now moves to 7-3 with a 3.86 ERA and 102 strikeouts across 16 starts, which our recap of Wednesday's win over the Astros breaks down in more detail.
A Real Case Against Ryan
That conversation runs straight through Joe Ryan, who has carried the ace label in Minnesota for two seasons and still holds a 3.61 ERA with 113 strikeouts of his own, a gap that looked much wider a month ago than it does now that Bradley's stuff is trending toward its ceiling again.
Both pitchers have the numbers to headline most rotations in baseball, Ryan's strikeout and ERA totals right alongside what Bradley has done since the trade, and Roundtable's look at Bradley's rise through the rotation already called the pairing a legitimate one-two punch weeks before Wednesday happened.
Minnesota sits at 42-46, four and a half games behind Chicago in the AL Central, which makes every strong start from its top two arms count for more with the trade deadline approaching.
Bradley is lined up to face Cleveland in his final outing before the All-Star break, and if he carries Wednesday's form into that start, the Twins will have a real decision on their hands about which pitcher fronts their rotation going forward.
But, Ryan's own strong season shows exactly how high the bar sits for anyone trying to claim that spot.
