Could Bradfield be an answer to O's outfield questions?

The top end of the Orioles’ farm system is filled with talent. 

Four of the top 10 prospects in the system, according to MLB Pipeline, were selected in this year’s MLB Draft. Two, Esteban Mejia and Nate George, were unranked entering 2025, but burst onto the scene with incredibly impressive seasons. Boston Bateman, the team’s No. 9 prospect, was acquired from the Padres at the trade deadline. 

While those seven players have plenty of upside, none are expected to see a big league field until at least 2028. 

The opposite is the case for the top two prospects down on the farm, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers, who should break camp with Baltimore and graduate from their prospect status within just a few weeks of the season’s start. 

So, rounding things out, two prospects are in the big leagues already, and seven are a long way away from it. That accounts for nine of the top 10. 

The one remaining? Enrique Bradfield Jr., currently playing in the Arizona Fall League with hopes of making a major league impact next season. 

The 2025 season didn’t quite go as planned. 

“It’s been tough at times, but I have a lot of good people around,” Bradfield told MASN’s Annie Klaff back in August. “I’ve spent a lot of time on the injured list, not idea,l obviously, for the position that I felt like I was in at the beginning of the year. Couldn’t control it, unlucky for the most part.

"We went back to the drawing board, we revisited a couple things that we really felt could be the game-changing difference for me, as far as being healthy, and really just tried to attack that during my rehabs.” 

Across four levels of the minors last year, Bradfield appeared in just 76 games, hitting .242 with a .348 on-base percentage and .697 OPS. He impressed enough in 50 games with Double-A Chesapeake to earn a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk to round out the year. He appeared in just 15 games for the Tides and hit .179. 

More so than perhaps any other Orioles prospect, though, Bradfield made the kind of impact that is hard to measure in a box score. 

The Vanderbilt product is a terror on the basepaths, stealing 135 bags in his 209 minor league games. A single or a walk is usually good for a double. And perhaps most importantly, Bradfield will be a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder the moment he steps onto a big league diamond. 

As such, it’s important to keep in mind that the lefty’s offensive numbers don’t need to be flashy. The power numbers more than likely won’t be. Bradfield just needs to maintain a good on-base percentage to score runs and steal bases, as he has in healthy spurts over the last few seasons. 

Combine that with his elite defense at a premium position and you’re left with a really valuable baseball player. 

Make no mistake, though. His offensive game still has plenty of room for upside. 

On Thursday, in the Arizona Fall League, Bradfield went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs driven in, three stolen bases and a run scored. According to Baseball America, two of those hits had an exit velocity over 103 mph. 

Plus, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Bradfield had a heroic home run robbery, a catch that Baseball America’s Josh Norris called “the best catch I’ve ever seen in person.” 

That afternoon is the perfect example of the kind of electricity that Bradfield can bring to a game at his best. 

In order to earn playing time for the Orioles in 2026, the outfielder will need to string together more performances like that for the Norfolk Tides. And after spending so much time with top prospects like Basallo and Beavers, he has learned some lessons on what it takes to join them in the majors. 

“The ability to continue on, regardless of how things are going in that moment,” Bradfield said. “It’s not always going to be easy. There’s going to be good, there’s going to be bad, and those two guys have had their fair share of good and bad … Just being able to know that you can get through it if you just continue and keep working hard, there’s going to be some light at the end of the tunnel regardless of what you’re facing now.” 

Question marks surround the O’s outfield entering 2026. Bradfield could be an answer, and he is in search of more of his own.