With Thursday’s announcement that the Boston Red Sox would not offer a Major League contract to outfielder Ryan Sweeney, it appears that top prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. will make the club’s Opening Day 25-man roster.
The 28-year-old Sweeney is a plus defender at all three outfield positions but hit just .260 with a .675 OPS and no home runs in 219 plate appearances last year for the Red Sox after he was acquired from Oakland with Andrew Bailey in the offseason. Sweeney batted .217 (10-for-46) with no home runs and a .547 OPS this spring.
Bradley, a top prospect who will turn 23 in mid-April, was projected to open the 2013 campaign at Triple-A Pawtucket when spring training started. Then the supplemental first rounder out of the University of South Carolina in 2011 wowed Red Sox officials with a hitting line of .441/.521/.644/1.165 in 59 at-bats.
The left-handed hitting Bradley bolsters a Red Sox lineup that will open the regular season without DH David Ortiz, who continues to recover from an Achilles heel injury; and shortstop Stephen Drew, who remains sidelined with concussion symptoms.
Boston’s Opening Day outfield will include three true center fielders. Bradley will be in left, Ellsbury in center and Shane Victorino in right.
Sweeney, whose 2012 season abruptly ended after he broke a hand punching a door after he was robbed of a hit during a game in late July, was offered a minor league deal by the Red Sox this offseason. The club had until Thursday to offer him a Major League contract or assign him to the minors. He has 24 hours to accept the minor league assignment or become a free agent.
