Prospect Profile No. 15: Andrew Brackman, RHP

Written by Greg Fertel | 12 January 2010

2-12 record, 106.2 innings pitched, 79 runs allowed, 70 earned runs allowed, 76 walks, 10 hit batsmen, 26 wild pitches, 103 strikeouts, 5.91 ERA, 1.71 WHIP

That is not the type of line you expect from a first round pick who signed a major league contract worth a minimum of $4.55 million. This hasn't been a case of bad luck, either. Andrew Brackman finished the season with a 4.66 FIP and a tRA over 6.00.

While Brackman's overall line looks terrible, this season has been a tale of three different pitchers. In his first nine starts, Brackman actually pitched very well:

9 GS, 50.2 IP, 20 ER, 47 H, 3 HR, 46 K, 18 BB, 3.59 ERA, 3.21 FIP

In his tenth start of the season, on May 26, Brackman walked ten batters while striking out only one in 3.1 innings. Prior to that start, Brackman hadn't issues more than three walks in a game. His final ten starts of the season, including that ten-walk effort, produced the following line:

10 GS, 0-7 record, 35 IP, 42 H, 44 R, 44 ER, 33 K, 46 BB, 11.30 ERA, 7.11 FIP

The difference between those performances is huge, and it's hard to believe that they came from the same pitcher. While you might say that his strikeout rate was still decent, it really isn't as good as it looks.

In his first nine starts, Brackman struck out 21 percent of the batters he faced. In his ten starts after that, he struck out only 17.2 percent. Scouting reports were down on him too. Dave Cameron at FanGraphs reported that Brackman sat 90-92 with his fastball in the first inning, but then was down to 88 in the second inning with a terrible breaking ball.

After ten troublesome starts and around 90 innings pitched, the Yankees moved Brackman to the bullpen. It's important to also note that he threw an additional 14.2 innings in the now-defunct Hawaii Winter Baseball League.

In the bullpen, Brackman turned things around a bit. He still walked over five batters per nine, but struck out over ten in the process. His FIP as a reliever was 2.63 and his stuff was much better than when he was starting.

There's no question that this season was definitely a big hit to Brackman's prospect status, and at age 23, he is very old for A-ball. However, it is still way too early to give up on Brackman. He is just returning from Tommy John Surgery and stayed healthy all season. Maybe he just needed a season to build up arm strength after surgery; we don't know.

As I noted with Dellin Betances, it's tough for such a tall pitcher to get their mechanics down. With guys like Betances and Brackman, patience is very important. People compared Brackman to a right-handed Randy Johnson when he was drafted, and Johnson didn't get his control problems under control until he was 29-years-old.

If Brackman enters next season throwing 96 mph gas like he was throwing in Hawaii, I think it will be a season to look forward to. If not, though, I think people will just be itching to throw that bust tag on Andrew Brackman.

Picture courtesy of MLB.com/Julie Jacobson