In The Era Of Big Velocities, Some Pitchers Are Still Finding Other Ways To Succeed

Texas Rangers left-hander Cody Bradford says he realized early on that he probably wouldn't ever possess the type of fastball that causes scouts to take a second look at their radar guns.

It hasn't stopped him from finding a home in the majors even as his peers push their velocities higher and higher.

"God didn't gift me with the ability to throw 100 miles an hour," Bradford said. "But he's given me a lot of other weapons."

Bradford's part of a small fraternity of pitchers who have bucked recent trends by maintaining successful careers without throwing particularly hard. He went 6-3 with a 3.54 ERA last season with a fastball averaging 89.8 mph, putting him in the fourth percentile among MLB pitchers, according to Statcast.

"From a pretty early age, my pitching coach was like, 'Cody, you're not going to be a 98 mile an hour guy. You're going to be that upper-80s, low-90s guy, so command's really important for you,'" said Bradford, who will open this season on the injured list due to soreness in his throwing elbow. "Honestly, in high school my focus was just trying to hit my spots. And then in college, kind of buying into that mentality that I really, really needed to spot up if I want to play the game for a long time."