Speed Thrills: Is Enrique Bradfield's Speed-Oriented Game A Liability Or Perfect Fit In Today's Game?

Image credit: Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)

Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. is one of the most unusual college players in the country.

In one of the most homer-friendly offensive environments in Division I history, Bradfield is more likely to drop down a bunt and start a mad dash to first base than take a big hack from the left side and deposit a ball over the fence.

In a year when program records for home runs are falling by the wayside and myriad players are setting new career marks for power, Bradfield homered just six times—two shy of his single-season record of eight in 2022—and has never reached double-digit homers in his career.

Instead, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound center fielder has a tool set and style of play that would have fit perfectly in the 1980s. Bradfield has a speed-oriented game built on his top-of-the-scale running ability and stellar defensive work in center field.

Bradfield still instills fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers—and certainly catchers—but it’s more due to the fact that any ground ball put in play can turn into a hit. Or any pitch out of the zone will likely stay there and be taken for a ball. Or any single will quickly turn into a double by way of the easiest stolen base you will see.

Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin called Bradfield a dynamic player who “impacts the game on both sides of the ball” and has an easy case for the title of the most exciting player in the country.

At the same time, there’s also a case to be made for Bradfield being one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2023 draft.

How exactly will teams handle an outlier tool set for a first-round talent in a college outfielder demographic that is historically valued, first and foremost, for impact and power? And how do recent MLB rules changes that have dramatically altered the style of play impact how a speed-oriented player is valued by scouting departments?

One popular comp for Bradfield is Juan Pierre, the former MLB leadoff man who used his bat-to-ball skill and 80-grade speed to hit .300 in his prime and steal more bases than any player of the wild card era.

This question of valuing Bradfield in today’s game is one of the most interesting and difficult to confidently answer of the 2023 class.

Over the last four years, the MLB game has changed more than Bradfield.

A high school outfielder who played at Southern Florida powerhouse American Heritage—a program known more for producing corner profiles like Eric Hosmer, Mark Vientos and Triston Casas—Bradfield ranked as the No. 66 prospect in the 2020 class as the fastest runner and best defender.

Even then, while listed at 6 feet, 155 pounds, Bradfield was viewed as a potential top-two rounds talent thanks to times of under 6.3 seconds in the 60-yard dash, advanced route-running and elite potential as a defensive center fielder—with strong pure bat-to-ball skills as well.

“Elite run tool and probably elite defense in center field,” said one scout at the time, “which is tremendously attractive to anyone.”

Bradfield was well-known enough and his tools obvious enough that he drew significant interest out of high school, even with the Covid-shortened 2020 season and five-round draft.

However, his signing demands were high enough that he made it to campus at Vanderbilt, where scouts were hopeful that he would use the next three seasons to prove his hitting chops, add a bit more physicality and allay any concerns about being a slappy, 20-grade power hitter who would struggle to profile as an everyday big leaguer.

“There’s a little fear with the bat and concern with the lack of impact with the bat,” the scout said of a then-18-year-old Bradfield. “(He’s) just going to have to get bigger and stronger—which he will . . . I mean it’s an easy comp to put Juan Pierre. It makes sense. But I don’t think that’s what you want.

“If you’re taking him in the second or third (round), you’re hoping to get something better than that. He is solid, but you’d like to get more impact.”

In this year’s draft, Bradfield is not viewed as a consensus top 10 pick, but there are enough teams who view him in that range to expect him to come off the board among the top 15 to 20 picks.

He has proven to be a disruptive player in the Southeastern Conference. At the conclusion of the regular season, Bradfield was a career .317/.434/.453 hitter with 15 home runs, 10 triples, 28 doubles, a 15% walk rate and a 13% strikeout rate. He made the SEC all-defensive team in all three seasons and has annually been among the nation’s leaders in stolen bases. He stole 127 bags in 139 attempts—a 91.4% success rate—in 183 games.

“He’s a lockdown center fielder and his speed plays close to an 80,” one scout said of the 2023 version of Bradfield. “He’s got tremendous instincts on the basepaths. He’s got tremendous instincts in center field. He knows a ball from a strike. He can bunt, and it’s top-of-the-scale makeup.”

While Bradfield does have a pair of 80-grade tools in his speed and glove, he is still a bit of an outlier when it comes to first-round college outfielders. In the bonus pool era, which began with the 2012 draft, Bradfield had 45 more stolen bases than the next-best base thief, which is 2016 fifth overall pick Corey Ray, who had 82 in his three-year Louisville career.

Among the 43-player group of first-round college outfielders of the bonus-pool era, Bradfield ranks 34th with 15 total home runs. Controlling for playing time by considering home run rate on a plate appearances basis, he checks in at 39th with a 1.75% rate—despite playing in a home run environment friendlier than any of the other 42 players.

“He just doesn’t have big exit velocities, and that’s where people will blink,” the scout said.

When looking at the top six college outfielders in the 2023 class, each of whom is either solidly a first-round talent or has a chance to go first round on draft day, Bradfield is at or near the bottom in terms of exit velocity.

Louisiana State’s Dylan Crews, Virginia Tech’s Jack Hurley, Arizona’s Chase Davis, Florida’s Wyatt Langford and Mississippi State’s Colton Ledbetter all have 90th percentile exit velocities higher than the 102.9 mph mark Bradfield posted in the 2023 regular season.

Of that same group, Bradfield’s average exit velocity of 87.1 tops only Ledbetter’s 86.2 mark—with all four other players surpassing the 90 mph threshold.

Bradfield’s overall offensive numbers fall far short of the average first-round college outfielder of the bonus pool era. But scouting isn’t as simple as lining up the players with the best exit velocity data and highest home run totals.

If that were the case, the big leagues would be crawling with hulking, slugging, non-athletes who could hardly handle a corner position, let alone range in the middle of the field without embarrassing themselves.

And for all of Bradfield’s limitations in the power department, he is as close to a lock as you can get to being a premium defender at a premium position, with solid-average or better zone control and bat-to-ball skills.

The big league game, for the first time in years, also seems to be more welcoming to a player with Bradfield’s skill set. Batting average on balls in play was the highest in the first month of the season since 2014. Stolen base attempts per game were higher than they’ve been in a decade, and the stolen base success rate was on pace to be the highest of all time.

A case could be made that stealing bases for a player like Bradfield could actually be easier in a league where the bags are bigger and pickoff rules more detrimental to the battery.

Every team is hunting for impact in the first round of the draft. That hasn’t changed and isn’t likely to no matter what rules MLB implements in the future. But perhaps we’re moving closer to a game where impact can be measured in something outside of home run rates or exit velocities.

Perhaps Bradfield is the outlier who will prove the exception to the rule of a typical college outfielder taken in the first round.

Then again, perhaps not.

We won’t be able to say for certain until years down the road. What is certain is that Bradfield represents one of the most confounding, perplexing and polarizing profiles of the 2023 draft class.

	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	HR/PA
Average	146	640	530	121	173	33	6	24	112	26	8	83	104	.328	.429	.552	.981	286	3.74%
SEC Average	147	631	533	115	170	33	5	25	109	24	7	71	116	.319	.411	.541	.952	288	3.94%
Bradfield	183	857	685	189	217	28	10	15	105	127	12	129	115	.317	.434	.453	.887	310	1.75%