For many, August 9th may not hold any special significance, but for many Red Sox fans, it may very well become a historic date that will be recognized as the resurrection of the next great Red Sox outfielder. The transformation of Jackie Bradley Jr. as an offensive weapon has been simply mindboggling. We have been continuously enraptured with his formidable defensive play, but the offensive explosion is nothing short of a revelation.
Bradley had been scuffling badly since his recall on July 29th .Up to that point, he looked like another blue chip prospect that would fail to realize his offensive potential.
Jackie Bradley 1 for 18, 5 K;s, since his recall. He is 5 for 48 this season, .104
— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) August 6, 2015
Bradley had cut his K rate roughly in half in the minors this year, but back in the big leagues, he's punched out 25.9% of the time in '15.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) August 6, 2015
Well he squeezed out a walk. #RedSox pic.twitter.com/bkOeGJtpKN
— Buzzing the Tower (@upandinsawx) August 7, 2015
Then when the poor guy tried to get things going in the right direction, he still faced doubters at every turn.
JBJ singles pic.twitter.com/pnYkvZaTgs
— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) August 7, 2015
Then came that magical day in Comerica Park against the Tigers, and I still remember that game like it was yesterday. It was on a Sunday and Boston was facing Justin Verlander. The troubled Tigers' ace had been struggling but ,on this day, he was vintage Verlander.In Jackie's first at bat in the top of the second, his forced a walk that brought in Boston's first run. Verlander would not be charged with any earned runs in this outing as he should have been out of the second inning unscathed, but a error by Ian Kinsler gave Boston a 2-0 lead as Holt followed Bradley with an RBI single.
In his second trip in the fourth, Verlander coaxed a popout to second from Bradley and this would be his last time facing Verlander and he would exit after 6 innings and 113 pitches. Now Jackie wasn't hitting much as can be seen above but he was even worse (if you can imagine that) against lefties. Veteran Tom Gorzelanny came on to face Bradley in the seventh and Jackie took a 3-2 over and out to right center field to give Boston a 3-1 lead. Jackie would face another lefty in the eight as Ian Krol took over. With the 2 out and bases loaded, Jackie again worked the count full and then drilled a ball down the line in right field which cleared the bases. He would end the day 2-3 with 5 RBI. Oh, and the brilliant defense was still on display as well.
Degree of difficulty: HIGH. #RedSox pic.twitter.com/wttKQVVHeL
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) August 9, 2015
Jackie was feelin' it too and alluded to the fact that he was feeding off criticism. Maybe we can thank Eck as well for Jackie's success.
Huge thanks to @Eck43 for saying all the things I "can't"do these past few days. People like you is what drives me :) pic.twitter.com/9KX5CBl78e
— Jackie Bradley Jr. (@JackieBradleyJr) August 9, 2015
Last 7 games for JBJ.
.483 Average
3 Home Runs
13 RBI
3 Doubles
2 Triples
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/gZyMfbaaIj
— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) August 16, 2015
Jackie Bradley's single ended a streak of 11 straight hits going for extra bases, longest by a Red Sox since 11 by J.D. Drew in 2008 (Elias)
— Jon Shestakofsky (@Shesta_Sox) August 23, 2015
JACK ATTACK! @JackieBradleyJr pic.twitter.com/tlm8j8Foti
— #DONTOURAGE (@RedSox_Stuff) August 23, 2015
As hot as he was in August, he has been tearing things up in September as well. Check this out!
Jackie is oh so HOT! #RedSox pic.twitter.com/5NKtZd3Mya
— Buzzing the Tower (@upandinsawx) September 6, 2015
On Aug. 8, Bradley was hitting .188 in 188 career games. He is 33 of 76 (.434) since with 28 RBIs, 27 runs in 24 games.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) September 6, 2015
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit his 8th homer, and has now driven in 35 RBI in 160 plate appearances. In 423 PAs in '14, he had 1 HR, 30 RBI.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 7, 2015
Post All Star break, Jackie Bradley, Jr. has 12 2B, 4 3B and 6 HR. Jacoby Ellsbury, in 73 MORE ABs, has 6 2B, 2 3B and 5 HR.
— Austin Eich (@Eich_AJ) September 7, 2015
JBJ since 8/9 is baseball's only .400 hitter: .439 (36 for 82). 23 EXBH, including 7 HRs
— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) September 7, 2015
Oh and one more thing. When mentioning his rebirth in that game against the Tigers, it could be seen as an anomaly with Jackie's big day against two very mediocre lefties. However, the stats don't lie as Bradley is hitting an astonishing .455 against left handers overall. There is no other way to end this post except this...
— Red Sox Nation (@Red_Sox_1901) September 7, 2015
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