Jackie Bradley To Be Promoted After All-Star Game

Jackie Bradley, Boston's most exciting prospect of 2012, is set to be promoted to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs after Tuesday night's Carolina League All-Star game, according to the Roanoke Times. This isn't entirely unexpected, as an all-star appearance is a reward for the kind of season Bradley has been having, but after 67 games and 304 plate appearances of excellence, it was time to move on.

Bradley finishes at High-A Salem with a .359/.480/.526 line, powered by 26 doubles, 31 overall extra-base hits, and 16 steals in 22 attempts (73 percent success). It doesn't show up in the box score, but his defense in center was also very promising -- Bradley has been the total package in 2012. Bradley has slumped a bit as of late, but during the last 10 games, he still has a .432 on-base percentage despite a .226 batting average -- slumps are relative when your on-base has flirted with .500 for most of three months.

He's been all the Red Sox could have hoped for when he was selected with the #40 pick in the 2011 MLB amateur entry draft. The former College World Series MVP had a down 2011 thanks to injuries, and his initial stints with Lowell and Greenville were too short to be of much use analytically. The 2012 campaign has shown the 22-year-old to be over the injuries that detracted from the previous season, though, and ready to enter into the top of Boston's prospect ranks.

A promotion to Portland also means Bradley is back where local Red Sox fans can see him. If Maine is too much of a hike for you, the Sea Dogs start a three-game series against the Fisher Cats in Manchester on July 4, and have 11 games left against them on the road over the next three months.