Milton Bradley's Chicago Cubs debut clouded with 'tightness'

He leaves game after first-inning walk with ailing left quad

By Paul Sullivan | Tribune reporter

February 27, 2009

MESA, Ariz. — Milton Bradley's Cubs debut didn't go as planned Thursday, leaving skeptics to wonder if the oft-injured outfielder will be healthy enough to make a difference this season.

Bradley drew a one-out walk in the first inning of a Cactus League game against Milwaukee before being removed with mild tightness of the left quad.

So what happened?

"I had a tight quad," Bradley replied.

And how did it happen?

"When you work out hard, you get tight," he said.

After some awkwardness, Bradley smiled when asked if it had happened during the game.

"I didn't do too much in the game," he said. "I felt it before warming up. So I just let them know it felt tighter than it should have. We have a quarter-season worth of games in spring training, so I thought the best course of action was to let them know right now."

Manager Lou Piniella said Bradley was taken out as a precautionary measure and said not to read too much into the first minor injury of his Cubs career.

Bradley was on the disabled list four times in 2007 with hamstring, calf and oblique injuries, playing in only 61 games with Oakland and San Diego. He was a designated hitter most of last year in Texas after off-season knee surgery.

"We don't have to rush anybody," Piniella said. "We'll give him a couple of days and run him back out there.

"He's one of the guys we're obviously going to [rest]. You know what's amazing — all this time he has been doing all these drills. He has been doing the running and his legs have felt great."

Bradley has made a strong first impression in the Cubs' clubhouse, revealing a side of himself to teammates that he doesn't often show in public.

"He's a very good guy and likes to joke a lot," Alfonso Soriano said.

But to the neutral observer, Bradley is all business. He does his work, keeps to himself and is getting used to a new environment once again. Along with his hitting, one of the reasons he was brought to Chicago was to bring some fire to a laid-back clubhouse.

"It's a small clubhouse too," Piniella said at the start of camp. "There's nothing wrong with that. I like competitive people. The more competitive, the better. He's basically hard on himself."

Bradley said he likes the way things have been run in Cubs camp, which is more structured than some he has been in over the last seven years. Piniella and his staff let the veteran players get their work in without a lot of repetition, giving them a chance to pace themselves.

"Everything runs like clockwork," Bradley said. "It's a lot of veteran guys, so you don't have to have a bunch of exaggeration on instruction, things everybody already knows. You go about your business, you get it done."

psullivan@tribune.com