Official word will come Friday, but the roster numbers say Bradley is one of 25.
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Asked Thursday afternoon if the Boston Red Sox had decided on what to do with Jackie Bradley Jr., manager John Farrell said "not yet.''
He then spent the next 10 minutes answering follow-up questions in a way that sounded like an endorsement for making the sensational rookie a big leaguer now.
Lyle Overbay was cut Tuesday. Ryan Sweeney was told on Thursday night that the Red Sox would not pick up his option.
Unless there's a secret player, hidden somewhere in the clubhouse at JetBlue Park, the numbers say Bradley will be on the Opening Day roster.
Sweeney was the last domino to fall. When he was told that he would not make the roster, it left room for Bradley as well as Mike Carp to fill the last two spots.
Farrell's pregame comments pointed the arrow in that direction.
"We're certainly not afraid or unwilling to break camp with him. If that were the case, we'd have sent him down four weeks ago,'' Farrell said.
To another question, he said "we can't control tomorrow, let alone six years from now.''
That was a reference to the "arbitration clock." Putting Bradley on the opening day roster would make Bradley eligible for free agency in 2018, rather than 2019 if he spent some time in the minors before a callup.
The Red Sox did not pick up the option on outfielder Ryan Sweeney, who played his last game Thursday night. That would appear to make Bradley's inclusion certain, but the club declined official comment and Bradley said he had not been told.
Without promising Bradley a spot, Farrell gave several reasons to do so. Bradley's gaudy .431 average was not among them.
"We look more at consistency of at-bats, what a player does in certain counts,'' Farrell said.
He cited a case Monday when Bradley fell behind 0-2 to Baltimore's Pedro Strop, laid off two good split-fingered fastballs, then laced a two-run single.
Farrell said it was that patience and knowledge of the strike zone, along with overall maturity that was helped by playing college ball at South Carolina, which separates Bradley from the so-called "Grapefruit League all-stars'' who falter once the games start to count.
"Everything we've thrown at him, he's been true to form,'' Farrell said
Bradley's on-base percentage is .521. Just for good measure Thursday, he entered the game as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning and still found time to score two runs.
His eighth-inning single delivered his 12th RBI of the spring. It came after Sweeney had walked in what would be his last Red Sox plate appearance.
Bradley's single scored Pedro Ciriaco, who is also destined to make the team as a backup infielder.
It sent Sweeney to third. There they were at the corners - the veteran who later called himself "odd man out,'' on the roster, and the rookie who has taken not only a spot, but the Grapefruit League by storm.
Before the game, Farrell was asked if game performance at this late date still factored into a decision.
He said if it didn't, that would imply a decision had already been made, when in fact it had not. But it's hard to imagine a couple of late-inning at-bats on the 45th day of spring training tipped the scales.
With Bradley on the team, the Red Sox must now decide how to use him. The likely plan would be to play him in left and make Jonny Gomes the DH.
Farrell has said that several players could DH, however. Gomes is an everyday player, or at least that's how he has been treated, so it's uncertain if Bradley's promotion would alter that plan.
Bradley said he never envisioned being at the center of such a hot baseball debate
"I was just excited to come to big league camp and try to make an impression on the new coaching staff, and then all this happened. I don't really know my chances – they're pretty good at keeping secrets,'' the 22-year-old outfielder said. "I don't worry about my chances. I sleep well at night.''
Bradley said he didn't know how these things work.
"If I get good news, I guess I should just walk away quickly (before it changed),'' he said with a grin.
He hadn't received the good news Thursday night, but he will.