The Diamondbacks waited until the August 16th deadline to sign Bradley to a $5 million, five-year contract even though he had already committed to play baseball and football at the University of Oklahoma.
For the remainder of the 2011 season, Bradley was assigned to the Missoula PaddleHeads of the Pioneer League, Arizona’s Rookie Advanced club.
For Missoula, he pitched in two games, one of which he started, and he struck out four hitters to just one walk. The Arizona Instructional League also claims that he threw “approximately 15 innings.”
Bradley made his professional debut on April 6 with the Class A South Bend Silver Hawks, giving up a single run in five innings of work against the Bowling Green Hot Rods in his first appearance.
In a 3–1 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps on April 12, he earned his first win, allowing just one run in six innings.
Over the course of 27 starts and 136 innings of work, Bradley amassed a 12–6 record with a 3.84 ERA for South Bend. He was second in the Midwest League in strikeouts with 152, but he was first in the league in walks with 82.
On April 14, 2013, Bradley was voted the California League’s Most Valuable Player for striking out nine in five and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball against the San Jose Giants.
He was promoted to the Mobile BayBears on May 1 after only five starts with Visalia and went on to win 3-1 in a victory over the Huntsville Stars on May 2.
The game, which was called due to bad weather, saw Bradley pitch all six innings.
Did Archie Bradley Poop His Pants?
Bradley claimed he pooped his pants before entering the game while taking a “nervous pee.” This event occurred before Bradley was scheduled to throw in relief for Arizona this season, according to Bradley.