(Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)

Minnesota right-hander Taj Bradley, once regarded as the Tampa Bay Rays' No. 1 prospect, will face his old team for the first time since getting sent to the Twins at last year's trade deadline when the two teams open a three-game series on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Bradley (3-0, 1.63 ERA), who went 19-25 with a 4.70 ERA over 69 games (67 starts) with the Rays, was shipped to the Twins last July 31 for reliever Griffin Jax.

'It will be weird being on the field in a different dugout,' Bradley told mlbbro.com. 'I'm excited to be pitching in Tropicana Field for the first time in a year. I get to face teammates of mine and friends. I'll just have fun with it.'

Bradley, a fifth-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2018 MLB Draft, had an up-and-down three seasons with the Rays. He was the American League Pitcher of the Month in July of 2024 after going 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA in five starts, but from July 31 through Sept. 10, he went 0-6 with an 8.27 ERA.

He was 6-6 with a 4.61 ERA in 21 starts for the Rays in 2025 before the trade to Minnesota, where he went 0-2 in six starts, with a 6.61 ERA.

Bradley, 25, has bounced back to be one of baseball's best starters in 2026, ranking third in the American League in ERA (1.63) and striking out 34 batters in 27 2/3 innings. He outdueled two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of Detroit in a 4-2 victory on April 7 at Target Field, allowing one run on six hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out 10.

'Taj is a really talented pitcher,' Rays manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times. 'Happy for the success, want to see him perform well, want to see him have a great career.

'Hopefully, we don't get the best version of Taj, because we've seen it when he's been in our dugout, that when he's on he is very tough and very talented, can create a lot of strikeouts.'

Bradley has never faced the Rays, and Minnesota stumbles into the series having lost six of its last seven games, including a 10-8 defeat on Thursday night to the Mets in New York.

Ryan Jeffers hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth to tie it at 7-7, but Bo Bichette answered with a three-run double in the bottom half to win it for the Mets.

Veteran right-hander Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 2.75 ERA) will start the series opener for Tampa Bay, which had a day off Tafter snapping a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Rasmussen is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in six appearances (three starts) against the Twins.

Nick Martinez, who had pitched for the Reds the previous two seasons, picked up his first win with the Rays, allowing one run on five hits over eight innings while striking out six. Junior Caminero hit his sixth homer and Yandy Diaz raised his average to .340, which ranks second in the majors, by going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

'I love it, man. It's a lot of fun,' Martinez said. 'Obviously, they know what I do well, and they know that I love to compete. ... It's always fun competing against your buddies.'

The Rays have dropped three of their last four games.

--Field Level Media