The Notebook at Five Hundred

The Notebook

Taj Bradley keeps a detailed journal to aid his development — starts, bullpens, lessons from coaches, motivational notes. His mother, Ana Mosley, bought him the first ones. He writes by hand with a nice pen, old-school. Early in his pro career, a pitching coach gave him advanced advice on his cutter, and Bradley later opened his notebook and repeated the tip nearly word for word. Coaches praised how he turned feedback into questions and on-field adjustments.

Stone Mountain to Minnesota

The Rays drafted him in the fifth round, 150th overall, in 2018, out of Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia. His mother moved the family from Los Angeles to the Atlanta area when he was four and raised him and his two brothers. Bradley is of African-American and Mexican descent, with a Mexican grandmother. At Redan he played outfield and caught before focusing on pitching. He had committed to Hillsborough Community College, then switched to the University of South Carolina late in his senior year.

He debuted with Tampa Bay on April 12, 2023 — his mother's birthday. She had driven overnight from Atlanta to Tropicana Field and has tracked every one of his starts in a scorebook since his rookie-ball days. He called the outing her birthday present, striking out eight over five innings for his first win. Three seasons with the Rays, then a trade to Minnesota on July 31, 2025, for reliever Griffin Jax. In four big-league seasons he has started 97 games, thrown 521 innings, and posted a 4.63 ERA with a 1.30 WHIP. The record is 28-32. In 24 games this season he has struck out 151. He was a Baseball America Double-A All-Star in 2022.

Five Hundred

On June 26, 2026, pitching for the Twins, Bradley recorded his 500th career strikeout. He is 25, in his second season with Minnesota.

Reporting: Wikipedia, MLB.com. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.