After ranking RHP Andrew Brackman the #6 Yankee prospect on my top 10 list yesterday, it was interesting to read this great scouting report of Brackman by Frankie Piliere of Fanhouse. Piliere, who was less than impressed with Brackman’s stuff last season and in spring training this year, has noticed substantial improvement in the big righty’s repertoire. You can read the whole report here (and I highly recommend doing so, there’s a lot of info there). Piliere observed that Brackman’s mechanics look much cleaner and smoother than they have in the past. Additionally, Piliere notices that Brackman has more velocity and movement on his fastball than he has in the past (hitting 97, sitting 92-96), that his curveball has looked like a plus-plus pitch (7 on the 2-8 scouting scale), and that his changeup has become a quality pitch. Once again, I recommend you read the entire article to get the full report, but it is exciting to read about Brackman’s tangible improvements in mechanics and repertoire.
In other news, those of you unfortunate enough to be living in Red Sox country (including yours truly) can catch the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees playing against the Pawtucket Red Sox on NESN. Jesus Montero is DH’ing and batting 5th, and is 0 for 1 so far. Juan Miranda hit a 3-run home run off Ramon Ramirez in the 1st inning, and David Phelps is on the hill for the Yankees.
Update, 7:37 PM: Phelps is dealing so far, shutting out the PawSox through 5 with 6 strikeouts and allowing just 3 hits. Jesus Montero just went yard off of a Ramirez curveball, hitting a shot to right-center and flashing his impressive opposite-field power.
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8 Responses to Andrew Brackman Scouting Report
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TIQ IQ
No scouting report link
Oops, sorry about that, accidentally linked to the top 10 list again (damn you copy/paste!). The link should work now. I swear I wasn’t trying to bump up the pageviews on my list.
He seems to tire in games or have trouble going through a line-up more than once. I wonder if that portends a future in the bullpen rather than as a starter, though I would be the first to admit it is too early to decide.
I have long had a fantasy about having that 6′ 10″ beast coming out of the bullpen and mowing down hitters. The big, bad Yankees with the biggest, baddest reliever on the planet.
It’s not unrealistic, either. Don’t forget Brackman was good as a reliever last year in what was an otherwise horrendous season. He may be able to keep his mechanics in check for an inning or two, but loses them mid game. If that’s the case, he’s a perfect candidate for a future relief role. For now, he needs to start and get innings under his belt, but it’s a possibility down the road.
It could also be a focus thing as we have seen all too often with AJ Burnett. Like AJ, Brackman seems prone to having one meltdown inning, even in a game when he is otherwise cruising along.
He reached the amount of innings he pitched last year, much earlier than last year. Right now he just seems not to be able to pitch that effectively from just being tired.
*reached 106 innings this year amonth earlier than he did last year. Since he seems to have figured it out midway into the season and gets farther removed from Tommy John Surgery he should maintain his mechanics deeper into games as he will have more innings underneath his belt.
This trend is clearly about getting tired. He can probably help the Yankees this year as a call up reliever. I thought that Kontos might be able to do the same byut he has regressed of late.