After about a week of speculating, the Red Sox finally officially announced outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has made the 25-man roster Sunday afternoon. The corresponding move to get Bradley onto the 40-man roster was designating first baseman Mauro Gomez for assignment.
In fact, Bradley will be starting in left field Monday afternoon when the Red Sox take on CC Sabathia and the Yankees in the Bronx. Farrell told the young star he made the team Saturday night on their flight to New York.
“At 35,000 feet, he couldn’t jump any higher,” Farrell told reporters in New York. “I think he kind of sensed it all along.”
Bradley had a sensational spring hitting .419 in 28 games with a .507 on base percentage and a .633 slugging percentage. Farrell acknowledged the organization didn’t go into spring training with any plans of having him on the big league club, but his play this spring along with the injury to David Ortiz made him hard to ignore.
“Our intentions were for him to start the season in the minor leagues,” Farrell said. “But I didn’t want to put a ceiling on the guy.”
Bradley, the No. 40 overall pick in the 2011 draft has never played above Double-A. Last season he split time between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland batting .315 with nine home runs, 63 RBI’s and 23 stolen bases.
With Bradley occupying left field, Farrell announced Jonny Gomes would get the nod as the designated hitter.
First pitch is set for 1:05 (NESN) Monday afternoon as the Red Sox begin their quest to make the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
Follow Metro Boston Red Sox beat writer Ryan Hannable on Twitter @hannable84.
