Andrew Brackman.

Andrew Brackman. To Yankee fans who follow the minors this is one name that prompts two reactions. Either you say the kid is coming off TJ surgery, give him some time. He hasn't thrown that many innings in his career. Give him time. The second is that Brackman is a bust.

I believe that we need to give Brackman more time. Yes he isn't young for the league but he threw 149.1 innings at NC State. That is the total amount of innings for his 3 years in college. That isn't a lot of innings for a player to learn his craft. Now this year he threw 106.2 innings.

Brackman was also healthy for the whole season. So he threw more innings then he had in his college and pro career and stayed healthy. That is a huge thing especially for a guy coming of a major surgery. So let's give him some credit for that.

The word bust gets thrown out very quickly now. I've even some comments at Yankee blogs and message boards. They say we should never have drafted Brackman. To me that is just crazy. Yes Brackman hasn't pitched in the majors but he was a top 10 talent in the draft that the Yankees got on the 30th position.

Here is the scouting report on Brackman before the draft.
Fastball. Sits 92-97 mph with plus movement and life in the zone.
Curveball. 78-81 mph with a plus potential.
Changeup. Average pitch.
Command. Very good fastball command needs refinement on his offspeed pitch.

Here is what Frankie P(AOL Fanhouse) said of Brackman's fastball. "A: (Frankie) TJ Surgery or not I don’t know if anyone matches Andrew Brackman’s 100 MPH heat. I personally got him 4 times at 100 so I’m going with him." This was a question about who had the best fastball in the minors who hadn't made the majors. This chat was done april 17th 2008 before Brackman had completely recovered from TJ surgery.

Next I would ask the person who would you want the Yankees to draft instead of Brackman? Some might say Jordan Zimmerman. What most people don't know about Zimmerman is that he went to a D III school. He wasn't a top prospect entering the draft mostly because he was only average at that DIII school before staring in the cape cod.

How about Mike Stanton, why didn't we draft him. Stanton was a HS prospect. He had multiple offers to play baseball. But what made a bunch of teams not draft Stanton very early is because he had a scholarship to USC with an invitation to walk on their football team. There were also some worries about his k rate which is a concern still to this day.

With the #30 pick the Yanks need to go with a huge upside guy. That is what they did. So far it hasn't work out as Brackman or the Yankees have wanted. But lets look at his stats from his first full season in professional ball.

He pitched 106 innings. Had 103 k's but 76 walks(Yikes!), 106 hits and an era of 5.91. Those are some good signs there. K per 9 was 8.7 which is good. HR per 9 was .7. He seemed to also figure it out the last 2 months of the season with 11 bb's to 24 k's in August and September.

Another point is look at Dan Bard. In 08 he was terrible. He walked 78 batters in 75 innings. That is 2 more walks than Brackman in 31 fewer innings. He also had around a 6 k per 9 rate then. Bard wasn't coming off TJ and he also wasn't 6'10. He is a 6'4" pitcher which is the idea size. He turned it around and got on the fast track.

Randy Johnson is the largest HOF(Yes I know he isn't in yet but he is a lock) pitcher. As a 22 year old prospect in AA, that HOF walked 128 batters in 140 innings, that comes to an 8.2 BB per 9. If you look at Randy's career he doesn't get his walk rate under 4 until he was 29.

This is just one bloggers opinion but I think the jury is still out on Brackman. I do think it's funny how a guy can go from an elite talent to a bust in 1 season. No one can struggle anymore even in the minors. To me that is just wrong, is Jesus struggles this year people won't be up in arms to call him a bust. From all account Brackman works on his craft, he is trying to get better. Let's cut him some slack, wish him to have two seasons without injury and see if they are successful or terrible. Only then do I think that we will know if Brackman is leaning towards being a bust or a prospect who just took a little longer.