What the $*&@ should we do with Andrew Brackman?

By Sean P. On June 14, 2011 · 9 Comments · In General Musings, Prospects, Statistical Analysis

“Suddenly your preconceived notions fall apart and their lack of logic is exposed” Jean-Paul Sartre

Andrew Brackman has been a complete, unmitigated disaster this year. All the progress he made in 2010 has seemingly disappeared- the control problems have reemerged, the strikeouts have dropped, the groundballs are down and the homerun rate is up. How bad is it? He’s already walked more people in 52 innings this year than in 140 innings last year. He’s already thrown more wild pitches in 2011 than he did in 2010. While his WHIP edges ever closer towards 2, his BABIP is at a career low .297. It’s bad.

Last night he came out of the bullpen for the first time this year, throwing an inning and a third, giving up two runs, walking two and striking out one. Not good. Two things should be remembered when discussing Brackman though. The first is that although he’s 25, he’s in AAA for the first time and this is just his third professional season. The second is that big guys frequently struggle with their mechanics and maybe that’s the root of the problem right now.

It’s unclear whether Brackman’s move to the bullpen is permanent or not. I’m hedging towards saying it probably should be. The Yankees used a third option on Brackman this spring. His major league contract signed in 2007 allows the Yankees to exercise team options on him through 2013, where he would make 1 million dollars in the majors. We know that even last year, scouts were saying he remained inconsistent and some days looked markedly better than others. With a fastball that sits anywhere from 88-95 depending on when you catch him, he has the makings of a power relief arm. He has a true plus pitch in his curveball and then some other lesser pitches that come and go. Last year, Baseball America noted he had the makings of a very intriguing upper 80s slider.

In the bullpen, would he be able to harness his fastball and curveball effectively? Who knows? Part of me thinks you have to ride out the Brackman as a starter ruse for awhile longer. Maybe the mechanics click, the slider comes around and all of a sudden he has 3 good pitches with the ability to throw strikes. Maybe this is all just related to adjusting to his first stint in AAA. Maybe space robots will abscond with his body and leave in his place an effective cyborg super pitcher. Another part of me thinks the words “starting pitcher” are not in his future and never will be.

What do I know though? I haven’t seen him pitch this year, I’m not an expert of any sort, none of us are. I think we’ll have to wait and see what happens, hope for the best or maybe an alien abduction. One of those.

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9 Responses to What the $*&@ should we do with Andrew Brackman?

  1. UYF1950 says:
    June 14, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    Sean, If I understand your blog. I get the feeling you don’t think he is another Randy Johnson. That’s was my attempt at humor. I say stick with him a little long but if things don’t improve the Yankees should try and see what they can get for him on the trade market either straight up or as part of a package. The Yankees appear to have “plenty” of young pitching prospects outside of Brackman that are far more likely to make the big league team in the future either as starters or relief pitchers. That’s just my opinion.

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    T.O. Chris Reply:
    June 14th, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    Brackman has lost all his trade value, at this point he is walking more than he strikes out. The next step is moving him to the pen, if that doesn’t work he will be cut.

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  2. Frank says:
    June 14, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    IMO, this “killer B” is a bust. Hopefully, the other 2 turn out to be better.

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  3. Reggie C. says:
    June 14, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    Perhaps not a overdraft considering the raw ability flashed at NC State, but the Yanks knew Brackman would need a lot of work.

    Given the certain need to infuse the bullpen with power arms now that Joba is on the shelf and R.Soriano has no real return date, there are far worse fates for Brax than pitching relief.

    He’s 25. Let’s start seeing some results on the big league level. Put him in the pen and have him zero in on 2 inning relief work.

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  4. bpdelia says:
    June 14, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    This is gonna be hypocritical. I;ve been crowing for a few weeks that it was time to move brackman to the pen. However I’m willing to let this run until the ASB.

    Ultimately I’ve always just felt he’d end up like Mark Hendrickson. Big guy, throws hard, can spin the ball. . . . never makes it.
    But I’ll hold out the miniscule amount of hope.

    THis whole “he’s in his 3rd pro season” stuff has gotta stop though. HE played NCAA ball quite a bit and it’s not as if he has scuttled a bit. He’s been atrocious more than he has been acceptable. 7 bb per 9 is outrageous.

    I’d feel ok with that excuse if we were talking 4.75 bbp, 4.5 fip. Thats not the case. I don’t want to bother but methinks you would be VERY VERY hard pressed to find any prospect in history with a career line over his age 22-25 seasons who ever contributed positive war to an ML team. Ever.

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  5. Dave says:
    June 15, 2011 at 4:30 am

    Yankee fans have no patience with players. That’s why it is so hard to develop players here. Brackman proved last year he could pitch. He is 6’11″ and going to take longer to develop. He stunk last year really until the second half. He has never pitched in AAA before. Now all of a sudden you decide he is not a starter? Again, the lack of patience from Yankee fans is annoying.

    Go on and cut/trade Brackman. Then watch in a year when he is tearing it up for the Pirates and in their rotation. Then you all will be whining again,

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    T.O. Chris Reply:
    June 15th, 2011 at 5:01 am

    Brackman is much different than many complaints Yankee fans usually have. I agree with you that for the most part, most fans haven’t had patience with prospects, but this isn’t the case here. Sean is bringing a valid point. Brackman has never shown any kind of real control, last year he comes along way against A ball kids at the age of 24, gets advanced does pretty good, and then gets advanced this year again and struggles mightily. He showed bad control even in double A, it’s not like this is a new thing. The only time when he showed great BB numbers was when he was tearing up A ballers at 24 years old.

    Brackman has to be on the major league roster to start next year or he can be a free agent, that’s part of his contract, in ordered to get him to the point of being able to do that relief work may be the answer.

    Also I wouldn’t really consider Jeff Karstens or Ross O. As prime examples of guys we gave up on, neither had a future as a starter in the AL east.

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    Sean P Reply:
    June 15th, 2011 at 10:46 am

    TO, way to hold it down man. Well said right there, those are my sentiments exactly. Thanks.

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  6. T.O. Chris says:
    June 21, 2011 at 3:19 am

    Since that first bad outing Brackman has put up nothing but 0′s out of the pen. Cashman said it was unlikely he would be called up this year, but if he goes on a second half tear they can’t keep him down. He certainly wouldn’t have to do much to have more potential than Marquez.

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