November 26, 2024

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

Back home it’s the middle of the night, but more than 14,000 km away, James Bradwell isn’t sleeping.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander is too busy throwing baseballs.

He entered the year fighting for a job with the independent Frontier League’s Quebec Capitales, said manager Pat Scalabrini, and he’s ending it, by putting himself in a good position to continue his career at a higher level.

The 26-year-old was a key part of the Capitales’ rotation in 2024, going 12-0 with a 2.72 ERA in 23 appearances (18 starts) for them. His efforts earned him the Canadian Baseball Network’s 2024 Claude Pelletier Award as the top Canadian pitcher in the unaffiliated pro ranks.

“He worked hard and he figured it out and deserved every ounce of success that he's had in the last few months,” Scalabrini said.

After his strong season, Bradwell wanted to continue to gain exposure, and improve his game against a high level of competition. So, the Canadian from Gibsons, B.C. packed his bags and flew to Australia to join the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League.

It’s a different continent, and an 18.5 hour time difference, which can make talking to his parents and girlfriend back home more challenging. But for Bradwell, it’s all worth it for a shot to make it onto a minor league roster.

“Hopefully something bigger and something from a higher level can come out of this,” Bradwell said, who’s looking to piggyback off his season with the Capitales.

The pitcher was stellar in 2024 with the Capitales. He pitched just over 109 innings and amassed 97 strikeouts. So far with Adelaide, he has posted a 1.59 ERA in two appearances, spanning 5 2/3 innings.

Long before he wound up halfway across the world, though, baseball had been an important part of Bradwell’s life. He was suiting up for T-ball, as early as five or six years old. The right hander then progressed through the ranks, motivated by the competitive aspect and his two brothers who were also involved with the sport.

He played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (UBC) from 2017 to 2021, and the Victoria HarbourCats in the West Coast League in 2017. Over 147 innings with the university, he had a 4.81 ERA, and 134 strikeouts.

On paper, he was the whole package, a physical kid with tremendous upside, said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett, who recruited him out of high school. However, despite continuing to refine his craft, throwing harder, sharpening his breaking stuff, he never quite put it all together, Pritchett said.

Now, though, he’s become more of a complete pitcher.

“He’s learned the pitching side of it now to go with just the tremendous ability to spin the ball,” Pritchett said. “And I mean he's throwing hard now too, he's throwing strikes. He’s now a pitcher rather than just a thrower, and he's starting to have a tremendous amount of success.”

Bradwell narrows that success down to the number of innings he was able to get under his belt with Quebec. That has helped him on the field, he said, after previously working as both a starter and as a reliever.

“To be able to amass that amount of innings really helped me become comfortable and confident with who I was as a pitcher,” he said.

He's hopeful that success will translate into a roster spot on a minor league team in the near future - something that Scalabrini sees for the Canadian pitcher.

“I'm really confident that he will get that opportunity,” Scalabrini said. “Hopefully it's now, if not, I'm confident that if he does that another year or so, he's going to get a shot sooner or later.”

***

Bradwell collected nine first-place votes from a panel of 10 baseball experts from across North America to win CBN’s 2024 Claude Pelletier Award, which is named after the legendary Canadian major league scout. Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.), of the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the Chinese League, had the other first-place vote to finish second.

Previous Winners

CBN Pitcher Of The Year (Unaffiliated)

(Renamed the Claude Pelletier award for 2021 season)

2008 — Michel Simard (Charlesbourg, Que.) Quebec Capitales.

2009 — Aaron Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) New Jersey Jackals.

2010 – Aaron Cotter (Kitimat, BC) Sioux Falls Pheasants.

2011 – John Mariotti (Toronto, Ont.) Quebec Capitales.

2012 – Jeff Duda (Surrey, BC) Quebec Capitales.

2013 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales.

2014 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales.

2015 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales.

2016 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales.

2017 - Scott Mathieson (Aldergrove, BC) Yomiuri Giants.

2018 _ Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.). Orix Buffaloes.

2019 _ Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) Ottawa Champions.

2020 _ Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.). Orix Buffaloes

2021 _ Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions.

2022 - Miguel Cienfuegos (Laval, Que.) Capitales de Québec.

2023 _ Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions.

2024 _ James Bradwell (Gibsons, BC) Capitales de Québec.

*Bold indicates the winner pitched in the major leagues.