Brian Cashman’s recent success in drafting pitching prospects is almost unprecedented; especially when you consider that he drafted Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy in the same draft. The Yankees most recent first round pitching prize is the towering Andrew Brackman, drafted with the 30th pick in the first round of the 2007 draft out of North Carolina State. Brackman is a monster of a man at 6-10 and 230 lbs and he can bring the heat, featuring an upper 90’s fastball that is consistently clocked at 95-97 mph. Brackman also features two off speed pitched with a knuckle curveball in the low 80’s and a changeup in the mid 80’s. The most obvious comparison for Brackman, given his stature, would be San Diego SP Chris Young, but Brackman throw’s harder then Young, giving him an even greater upside. Like most tall pitchers such as Young or Randy Johnson, Brackman still struggles with repeating his delivery somewhat as evidenced by a higher then average walk count, featuring a BB/9 of 3.77, 6.04, and 4.27 in each of his 3 years at NC State.
Overall, Brackman was 11-7 with a 3.80 ERA in his three collegiate seasons, but those numbers are somewhat skewed by his injury riddled sophomore season in which he had a 6.35 ERA and walked 19 batters in 28.1 innings. Brackman had ERA’s under 4 in his freshman and junior seasons and featured a K/9 for his college career just under 9 (149 K’s in 149.1 innings). Many scouts believed that Brackman would be a top 5-10 pick, so why did he fall to the Yankees all the way at number 30? Mainly for two reasons, the injury problems and his agent is the notorious Scott Boras. The injury concerns turned out to be warranted, given that Brackman underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after being drafted. Sounds bad right, but the surgery is not as big of a deal as it used to e and the Yankees fully believe it will correct all of Brackman’s health concerns and he will be ready to contribute after he recovers for years to come. Brackman will miss most of the 2008 season, but if he recovers quickly enough he could make a few starts for the Tampa Yankees to get his feet wet and then start the 2009 season back there. Mostly due to the injury, Brackman has little chance of joining the big club before the 2010 season but he is just as capable of anybody as making a Joba Chamberlain or Ian Kennedy type soar through the minor leagues.
Overall, Brackman was 11-7 with a 3.80 ERA in his three collegiate seasons, but those numbers are somewhat skewed by his injury riddled sophomore season in which he had a 6.35 ERA and walked 19 batters in 28.1 innings. Brackman had ERA’s under 4 in his freshman and junior seasons and featured a K/9 for his college career just under 9 (149 K’s in 149.1 innings). Many scouts believed that Brackman would be a top 5-10 pick, so why did he fall to the Yankees all the way at number 30? Mainly for two reasons, the injury problems and his agent is the notorious Scott Boras. The injury concerns turned out to be warranted, given that Brackman underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after being drafted. Sounds bad right, but the surgery is not as big of a deal as it used to e and the Yankees fully believe it will correct all of Brackman’s health concerns and he will be ready to contribute after he recovers for years to come. Brackman will miss most of the 2008 season, but if he recovers quickly enough he could make a few starts for the Tampa Yankees to get his feet wet and then start the 2009 season back there. Mostly due to the injury, Brackman has little chance of joining the big club before the 2010 season but he is just as capable of anybody as making a Joba Chamberlain or Ian Kennedy type soar through the minor leagues.
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