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Another kind of Wild Card

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While the Andrew Brackman call-up story has been all over the map, it was confirmed on Thursday that Brackman has indeed been activated.  We still have no idea if Brackman will throw his first major league pitch this year (Thursday would have been an ideal time).  If he does, and he’s a success, could we see Brackman on the postseason roster?

The pitching roster for the playoffs is far from set and the possibilities are being debated all over the place and I’m sure within the Yankees organization.  If Brackman gets some garbage time innings in and dominates, I could see him replacing whoever is currently penciled in for the last spot on the roster.  While it sounds crazy, Brackman has upside that Moseley, Vazquez, Gaudin and Mitre just don’t have.  If he comes in and dominates for 5-10 innings over the next 10 days, why not?

This idea all stems from how valuable Francisco Rodriguez was for the Angels in 2002.  He wasn’t called up until September and didn’t throw his first major league pitch until September 18th.  He was 20 years old with 317.2 minor league innings, Brackman is 24 with 247.1 innings, so it’s not like Rodriguez had a huge advantage in experience, especially considering Brackman went to college. K-Rod established himself quickly and despite just 5.2 major league innings, there was no way the Angels could leave him off their playoff roster.  They were rewarded when Rodriguez’ domination continued into the playoffs and helped the Angels to the title.  I don’t think Brackman has it in him to dominate like K-Rod did, but he could also pitch 5 or 6 innings if needed in an extra inning or a bad AJ kind of game.  He could truly be a wild card.

I will say that I don’t expect this to happen, but I would love for Brackman to get his feet wet in the majors and pitch well enough for him to even be in the discussion.  While the last spot on a playoff bullpen may not matter much, if he pitches well enough to get real innings in, he could be extremely valuable.  The value of relievers is greatly overrated in the regular season, but dominating performances out of the pen can go a long way in a tight postseason series.  We’ve seen enough of Mariano Rivera over the past decade and half to know how valuable a shutdown reliever can be, but he hasn’t been alone.  He’s the only one who has done it consistently, but there’s no way the Angels win in 2002 without Rodriguez, or the Sox in 2004 without Foulke, or the Cardinals in 2006 without Wainwright all dominating out of the pen.  What do you think, if Brackman pitches and dominates over the next 10 days, would you want to see him on the mound in October?

Andrew Brackman active for tonight’s game

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This whole thing keeps getting weirder and weirder. We know that 2007 first rounder Andrew Brackman (along with some others) is with the big league team to work out with the coaching staff and what not, but now Chad Jennings is reporting that the Yanks have activated Brackman for tonight’s game. Not that I expect him to pitch (at all, the rest of the season), but Brian Cashman did give Joe Girardi the okay to use him.

Brackman was already on the 40-man roster, so no move had to be made. He’ll collect a few days service time but not enough to alter his arbitration or free agent clocks, and his paycheck probably won’t even change since his annual salary is presumably set by his big league contract. He’ll be easy to spot during batting practice and stuff, he’s the tall guy.

Clarification on Andrew Brackman’s call-up

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Late last night we got word that the Yankees had recalled 2007 first round pick Andrew Brackman, but the report turned out to be slightly incorrect. Yes, the team is summoning Brackman to the big leagues, but he will not be activated and will instead work out with the team and the coaches. Dellin Betances will be doing the same thing as well.

The Yanks have been doing this for years, with guys like Phil Hughes and Tyler Clippard going through the same thing. It just gives the kids a brief taste of the big league life before getting called up to pitch, whenever that may be. Good chance for Betances to Brackman to get their feet wet and get familiar with how things are done. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Update: Jesus Montero will be there as well. Awesome.

Yankees recall Andrew Brackman (UPDATE: No they don’t)

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12:22am: False alarm. Brackman himself confirmed to Josh Norris that he has not been called up, and as far as he knows the team has no intentions of promoting him this month either. Damn, that was exciting for a while.

10:54pm: Mark Feinsand says the team has denied the report and Brackman has not been called up. So much for that.

10:36pm: Via The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Yankees have recalled 2007 first rounder Andrew Brackman and will have him available tomorrow. Brackman, an Ohio native, threw 140.2 innings with High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton this year, posting an 8.1 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. I wouldn’t expect him to pitch any since he’s close to 40 innings over last year’s total, but he’ll have a chance to soak everything in and see what goes on around the big league team. Considering everyone that called him a bust last year, this must feel rather good for the kid.

(FWIW, Moshe had it first)

Afternoon links: Brackman, Ortiz, Prospects

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Just a couple of links to get you jump-started this Sunday afternoon.

  • Frank Piliere has a full scouting report on Andrew Brackman. The velocity seems to be there, and Piliere thinks that it’s the command of his curveball that will make the difference for Brackman.
  • David Ortiz complains about the strike zone. Players who twice strike out looking tend to do that.
  • Joel Sherman muses on three youngsters who could help out next season: Eduardo Nunez, Brandon Laird, and Jesus Montero. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nunez up in September. If they can muster a 40-man spot you might be able to say the same for Laird, who will have to hit the 40-man after the season anyway.
  • And finally, a little bit on Pedro Martinez, who won’t pitch this year. He thinks he has “a legit chance” at the Hall of Fame, which completely undersells his case. He’s a first balloter, no questions asked.

Link Dump: Send Swish!, Brackman, Mariano

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Apparently everyone in America has the day off except me, so here’s some links…

Send Swish!

One day into the Final Vote balloting, Nick Swisher is in the lead for the AL’s final All Star roster spot. Kevin Youkilis isn’t far behind him though, so we all have to make sure we go out and support Swish. The ballot can be found here, and you can vote as much as you want, there’s no limit. The polls close at 4pm ET this Thursday, and you can always click our little Send Swish! button on the sidebar to go to the ballot.

Mike Ashmore Chats With Andrew Brackman

Friend of RAB Mike Ashmore chatted with 2007 first round pick Andrew Brackman recently, and posted the results for all to see. The entire Q&A is worth the read, but I found the info about adjusting his mechanics and trying to add a changeup the most interesting. Brackman’s comments about basketball were interesting as well; he’s aware that he probably didn’t have a shot at the NBA, but going overseas was a very real possibility for him. Never considered that, though I’m not much of a basketball guy.

Getting Dominated By Mariano Rivera, Interactively

We’re probably the last site on the internet to link to this, but better late than never. The New York Times ran a great little video over the weekend about Mariano Rivera and what makes his cutter so effective. You’ve probably seen it already, but it’s definitely worth another watch or two. The accompanying article is worth the read as well.

The RAB Mailbag

Don’t forget to send in your mailbag questions throughout the week. Things seemed to go well and we got a lot of positive feedback to last week’s post, so it’s definitely something we’ll do again. Just email us via the links, or use the Submit A Tip box under The Montero Watch.

Yankees promote Andrew Brackman to Double-A

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Via Josh Norris, 2007 first rounder Andrew Brackman has been promoted to Double-A Trenton. The 6-foot-10 righthander has rebounded from a disastrous 2009 campaign to post a 2.84 ERA (eerily enough, also a 2.84 FIP) in his last eight starts (44.1 IP). More importantly, he’s walked just nine batters in 60 IP (1.35 BB/9) all season after walking 76 in 106.2 IP (6.41 BB/9) last year. He gets the ball tomorrow.

Congrats to Brackman, it’s great to see him improve so much as he gets further away from Tommy John surgery.