ESPN New York writer Wallace Matthews and I had a civil back and forth Wednesday and Thursday over the readiness of the Yankees’ trio of starting pitching prospects Manny Banuelos, Andrew Brackman, and Dellin Betances. Matthews indicated, with no real justification, that the Yankees feel both Banuelos and Betances are more ready to contribute than Brackman is. Matthews indicated that this isn’t his personal feeling, but the organization’s. Either way, I’ve got to disagree here.
Betances and Brackman are both on the 40-man roster as of right now, and Betances has more innings pitched, but he’s also been in the system longer. It’s worth nothing that Betances has 299 minor league innings since 2006 while Brackman has 247.1 between just 2009 and 2010. Banuelos, for the record, has 215.2.
In terms of innings, we’ve got to give the advantage to Brackman, and that’s the biggest factor when thinking about readiness for the Major Leagues. Since having Tommy John Surgery, Brackman’s had back to back years of 100+ innings pitched (106.2 in ’09, 140.2 in ’10). Betances has done that just one time (121 IP in ’08), as has Banuelos (109 in ’09; though he did have 89.2 innings in 2010, including his stint in the AzFL).
Of course, pitching the innings isn’t the only thing that counts; it matters where those innings are pitched. Brackman pitched 80.2 innings in AA Trenton in 2010 (60.0 for A+ Tampa), while Betances and Banuelos only got brief stints (14.1 IP and 15.1 IP respectively) in the Eastern League.
I’d imagine that both Betances and Banuelos will start the year with Trenton, while Brackman will start the year with AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre. This, along with the innings and experience factors, means that Brackman is the closest to giving the Yankees any sort of meaningful contribution.
Of course, we can’t talk about their readiness without talking about the awesome potential each one of these guys has. Brackman and Betances are HUGE and have great velocity. Banuelos, a small lefty, has every bit of upside that the other two have. Of the three, I’d say Banuelos has the best chance of the three to make it as a starter in the bigs. He’s got time to add size and the fact that the at least pitched in AA at 19 is an accomplishment to be praised. He’s definitely moving faster than the other two are, but Brackman’s still closest. If we see any of these guys in the Bronx in 2011, it’s going to be Brackman.
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8 Responses to The Readiness of the Killer B's
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TIQ IQ
Brackman is the most ready but if I was them I would give him 2 months in AAA at least before trying him in the big leagues. Let him get his feet under him and build up some success.
It would be interesting to hear why the Yankees feel that. I don’t know that I really think anyone of the three is that much more ready than the others but I do think that Brackman’s ML contract would force them to be more aggressive with him than the others.
I think all three have more upside than Hughes. Don’t understand why all three are not MLB starters. Are you actually handicapping the risk of injury
Well not one of them has even pitched in AAA, so that’s why they aren’t MLB starters at this point. I assume you mean down the road? Probably just my reading comprehension.
You do know that Brackman is older than Hughes right? The only one of the three you can possibly actually think has more upside than Hughes is Banuelos and thats just becaue of age. Hughes is still developing into the pitcher he will be,
Phil Hughes was the highest rated prospect in all of baseball before his call-up. Unless you tell me these guys fit that description I disagree with your assessment of their abilities compared to his. They don’t just hand out those types of adulation readily.
Post season innings count and you do not mention them. Brackman has 5 innings more and Betances and Banuelos both have more innings as well.
Of the three killer “b’s” the only one i’ve seen is banuelos..(AFL) and he looked great…Best pitch was his change-up…Brackman at 26 years old better make the move or move on…Betance has been spoken of for many years and still waiting for the show…The yankees simply do not promote young pitching..only exception would be Phil Hughes…While a lot of teams have these kid in the show at 21-22 the yankees would rather waste most of them in the minors…then trade them…very frustrating to watch and I’ve been a fan for over fifty years…