Cleveland Indians promote slugging 19-year-old Bobby Bradley to Lynchburg

Cleveland Indians prospect Bobby Bradley has been promoted to the Lynchburg Hillcats of the High-A Carolina League.

The promotion is much deserved, as Bradley, who is 19 years old, has put up big numbers with the Lake County Captains this season. His batting line is .269/.361/.529, good for a wRC+ of 153 in the Midwest League, which tends to favor pitchers. That wRC+ leads the league, as do Bradley's 27 home runs (no other player has more than 16), which is one of the highest home run totals by a teenager during the last decade.

Bradley's promotion is well-timed for the Hillcats, who have three games left in the regular season, hold the best record in the Carolina League's Northern Division, and will begin postseason play on Wednesday, facing Wilmington in a best-of-three semifinal series.

Bradley has a very high, 31.8% strikeout rate, and that's something he'll have to address as he continues his development. Even with all those strikeouts though, he's had a tremendous season. If he continues to progress well, he could be starting for the Indians early in 2018.

It's exciting to see the top power-hitting talent in the system moved up to face new challenges and try to help on of the Tribe's affiliates win a league title.