GLENDALE, Ariz. — It would be understandable to think that Enrique Bradfield Jr. of the Orioles and Patrick Clohisy of the Braves dressed up as Superman on this Halloween in the Arizona Fall League. Both are, after all, Men of Steal.
Clohisy swiped three on Friday afternoon for the Glendale Desert Dogs in a 6-3 win at Camelback Ranch; Bradfield picked up one for the Peoria Javelinas. That means the pair finished the day tied for the AFL lead with 17 steals.
“I did not know that,” Clohisy said.
“Oh, that’s good! I did not know that, either,” Bradfield added.
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Bradfield, the Orioles’ first-round pick in 2023 and No. 4 on the team’s Top 30 list, has the higher profile coming out of Vanderbilt, one who stole 74 bases in 2024, his first full season of pro ball and 36 more in an injury-shortened 2025 campaign. Clohisy might be lesser-known as an 11th-round pick out of Saint Louis University, but he bested Bradfield with his first-season total, swiping 79 this year before heading to the AFL. Regardless of the prospect pedigrees, there’s some mutual respect here. Speed recognizes speed.
“It’s fun to learn; there’s always things to learn,” Clohisy said. “He’s obviously super fast, a great basestealer, so learning from the best, it’s how you get better.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Bradfield said. “It’s always fun. Like he said, you can always learn. He got out there today and he wasted no time. First pitch, he was on second base, got to third base. That’s what we’re looking to do is just create runs for the team.
“Obviously, we played each other a ton so far in the Fall League, and he’s played amazing. He’s running the bases well, hitting the ball. It’s been great to meet you and you’re doing your thing, so I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you,” Clohisy said.
Both leadoff types have been caught just one time all fall, Clohisy getting nabbed on Thursday night and Bradfield back on Oct. 25. Bradfield mentioned that run creation is the key. They aren’t taking off just to pad stolen-base totals. The name of the game is scoring runs, and, yep, the pair is tied on that front as well, with 13, putting them in the top 10 in that category as well.
“I feel like that’s something that’s very important,” Bradfield said. “It’s kind of a lost art in this game in today’s world. Everybody’s thinking about the slug and the home run, so when you can be able to do a little bit of everything and help the team, you’re not always going to be able to hit the ball how you want, so playing defense, getting out on the bases, and just kind of just creating runs for the team is pretty important, I think.”
“I would just say get in scoring position, getting on base for the middle of the order, whoever is following after you, it’s kind of for the team,” Clohisy added. “It may not always be the prettiest thing, but as long as you know you’re out there for the team producing runs, providing all you can, that’s what you focus on.”
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There’s plenty of data these days to show how fast players are, with the sprint speed of any stolen base in an AFL game at our fingertips. Bradfield’s steal of second base on Friday came with a sprint speed of 29.2 feet per second. Clohisy’s best time was 29.0 ft/sec when he picked up that first steal after drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning. The analytics crowd might like to look at that information, but while this duo is aware of it, they try not to pay much attention to it.
“There’s a bunch of different aspects that go into it, but I like to simplify,” Clohisy said. “I’m always better when I’m just focused on getting the best jump I can get. Those things can be great, they can help you a lot, but sometimes I overthink it, so I like to just keep it simple.”
“I personally don’t care for it,” Bradfield said. “It doesn’t really affect my game. I don’t look too deep into it. I know how big my leads are whenever I’m out there, and I know what the pitchers’ times are, and from there I’m just playing the game. I just want to be as aggressive as I can.”
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With both pretty much having the green light in the AFL, the plan is for them to be as aggressive as possible. They’ve heard that the Fall League record for steals in a season is 29, set by Caleb Durbin, then with the Yankees, just one year ago. Both at 17 with nine regular-season games left, it doesn’t seem unrealistic that either of them could move Durbin to runner-up status, not that it’s a primary goal for them.
“I think it’s reachable for both of us, but I don’t really care for it,” Bradfield said. “It is what it is, if it happens. That’s kind of how I treat a lot of things out here. I’m just going to keep doing my thing and see where I end up.”
“Same thing,” Clohisy agreed. “Just keep playing hard, see where you end.”
