Enrique Bradfield showed he was more than just a speed demon in 2024

The 2023 first-round pick led all Orioles minor leaguers with 74 steals, but also showed impressive improvement at the plate in his first full professional season.

When the Orioles drafted Enrique Bradfield Jr. in the first round in the 2023 draft, the vision was clear: he is supposed to be Baltimore’s leadoff hitter of the future. The speedster out of Vanderbilt took big steps toward delivering on that promise in an impressive first full professional season.

Coming into the 2024 season, it wasn’t clear how far the 22-year-old might climb up the minor league ladder. The center fielder seemed to hit a wall late into the 2023 season as he acclimated himself to professional pitching. After hitting .302 with a .494 OBP in 17 with Low-A Delmarva, Bradfield got a late season callup to High-A Aberdeen. However, his first cameo with the IronBirds didn’t earn him rave reviews, as he went 2-17 in five games with Aberdeen.

Bradfield is one of the rare prospects who had major-league-ready aspects to his game the moment he came out of the draft. You could put EBJ on a major league roster today and he’d be an above-average defensive center fielder while offering double digit steals upside as a pinch runner. The 2024 season was about finding out if he could build on his hit tool that graded as a 50 on the 20-80 scale coming out of Vandy.

The speedy outfielder would start 2024 back in Aberdeen as he looked to improve upon his first opportunity against High-A pitching. Early returns were mixed; Bradfield only put up a .234 average and .321 OBP across 13 games in April, but also added nine stolen bases and 10 runs.

EBJ suffered a head injury toward the end of April after being hit on a headfirst slide into home plate. The injury kept him out two weeks from April 20th until May 5th, but upon his return he began to level up his performance. Bradfield racked up six multi-hit games across 20 starts in May, finishing with a triple slash .284/.353/.392 in the season’s second month. His speed also continued to be a major factor, reaching 20 stolen bases in only 27 games.

Many of the Orioles’ top prospects have gone through early struggles only to grow into their prodigious talents as the season goes on. Bradfield was no different in 2024, as he seemed to get better every month. Between the beginning of June and the All-Star break, the Orioles’ top outfield prospect upped his average to .291, boosted his OBP to .364 and blasted his first two minor league home runs.

Brafield would cool off a little bit post All-Star break, but Mike Elias & Co. had seen enough to give EBJ a promotion to Double-A Bowie. The speedster finished with a final High-A triple slash of .267/.345/.363 with 59 steals and 63 runs scored in 81 games.

Unlike his previous step up in competition, Bradfield hit the ground running when he joined the Baysox. In only his sixth game at Bowie, the center fielder put up his best game of the season to date, going 3-3 with a double, a triple, two runs, two RBIs and two SBs. In that game, Bradfield also demonstrated a growing ability to drive the ball to both gaps as he continues to develop his power.

Five games later, Bradfield put up his only four-hit game of the season as he continued his hot start as a Baysox. Through his first 15 games in Bowie, the former first-rounder hit .286 with an impressive .403 OBP. Bradfield seemed to show a new level of patience upon his arrival in Bowie. After racking up 35 BBs in 81 games with Aberdeen, he reached double digit walks at Bowie in only 15 games.

Bradfield would go on to collect 13 hits and his first Double-A home run in the last 12 games of the season. Moving up in competition brought the best out of Bradfield, as he boosted his on base percentage by 50 points going from Aberdeen to Bowie, while also upping his slugging percentage by over 30 points.

Maintaining the high on-base percentage will be the key to not only thriving in the minors but carving out a role once he reaches Baltimore. Bradfield’s pre-draft comparison was former six-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and five-time stolen base champ Kenny Lofton. Bradfield already has Lofton’s speed and defensive acumen, but at his best the longtime Cleveland leadoff man flirted with a .400+ OBP. Those type of numbers are well within Bradfield’s reach if he continues to draw more walks and slap the ball to all fields.

When evaluating Bradfield, though, it will always come back to his electric speed. The speedster got on the Orioles’ radar by setting a Vanderbilt school record with 130 steals in 191 games. After swiping 74 bags across two levels in 2024, EBJ now has 98 steals in 130 games across the Orioles’ minor league affiliates. After laying down a top sprint speed of 30.5 ft/sec in last season’s spring training prospect showcase, Bradfield is already set to take the crown as fastest Oriole and challenge for the title of fastest player in baseball.

Bradfield is probably still more than a year away from vying for a spot in the big leagues. However, if he can continue to make the kind of leaps we saw throughout 2024, he may challenge for a fall call-up in 2025.

Something to keep an eye on in relation to Bradfield is the play of Cedric Mullins. The former All-Star and Gold Glove finalist enters his final year of arbitration eligibility in 2025 and is set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. If Mullins plays himself into an extension, it could block Bradfield’s path to the majors and delay his arrival in Baltimore. Conversely, if Mullins struggles with production or injuries, the front office may look to fast track EBJ through the system.

Previous 2024 prospect reviews: Heston Kjerstad, Frederick Bencosme, Justin Armbruester, Leandro Arias, Brandon Young, Creed Willems, Trace Bright, Braylin Tavera, Michael Forret, Thomas Sosa, 2024 draft picks, Aron Estrada, Alex Pham, Luis De Léon, Patrick Reilly. Dylan Beavers

Tomorrow: Chayce McDermott