BaseballAmerica.com: Draft: Andrew Brackman, rhp, Yankees

Andrew Brackman, rhp, Yankees

June 7, 2007

B-T: R-R
Ht: 6-10. Wt.: 240.
Birthdate: 12/4/1985.
School: North Carolina State
Class: Jr.
Previously Drafted: Never drafted.

THROUGH THE YEARS IN BASEBALL AMERICA

2007

• An American League scout gave his take on Brackman midway through the season.
• In a draft chat

, Alan Matthews said that Brackman may fall out of the first round entirely.
• Due to inflammation in his right elbow, Brackman was not on NC State's 25-man roster for the regionals.
• Brackman is our top prospect from North Carolina

.
• John Manuel blogged about the on- and off-field problems that Brackman has struggled with this season.
• In a draft chat, Manuel said that Brackman's dead arm is causing him to slip on many teams' draft boards

.
• Aaron Fitt blogged that Brackman would miss time due to fatigue from the heaviest workload of his career after pitching 78 innings this season.
• Brackman ranked sixth in our midseason update of the draft's Top 30 Prospects

and ranked third in our Top 50 College Prospects list

.
• John Manuel blogged about watching Brackman pitch in a game in early February.
• Brackman was third on our Top 50 College Junior Draft Prospects

board and was also third on our College Top 100 Prospects

list.
• Brackman projected as the second-best prospect in our Atlantic Coast Conference preseason preview.
• On our preseason All-America team

, Brackman was a first team selection.

2006

• In our early draft preview, Brackman was the third best prospect for the 2007 draft

.
• Brackman finished the summer ranked second among prospects from the Cape Cod League

.
• Team USA added Brackman as a replacement for its trip to Havana, Cuba for the FISU World University Championship.
• Brackman's sophomore season ended early due to a hip injury.
• In the preseason, Brackman was our top prospect for the 2007 draft

.
• Brackman was second on our list of Fab 50 Sophomores

.
• Brackman was a second-team preseason All-America.

2005

• John Manuel blogged that Brackman touched 94 MPH and could be a first round pick in 2007.

2004

• Brackman was also a top basketball recruit out of high school

. He was the top prospect in both baseball and basketball from the Ohio high school ranks

.
• Brackman came in at No. 83 on the Top 100 High School Prospects list

and No. 143 on our Top 200 Prospects

list.
• Tom Groeschen wrote about Brackman lighting up radar guns and excelling on the basketball court

SCOUTING REPORT

As an awkward 6-foot-7 16-year-old at Cincinnati's Moeller High, Brackman wasn't considered a top 50 prospect in baseball or basketball. His basketball game blossomed as a senior, and when N.C. State offered him a chance to play both sports, he eagerly accepted. A bout with tendinitis assured he wouldn't be drafted highly enough out of high school to buy him out of college, and after giving up basketball as a sophomore (he had thrown just 77 innings in his first two years at N.C. State), he's begun to come into this own. Now a legitimate 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, his upside is considerable. His athleticism helps him repeat his delivery, but he struggles with his balance and release point, leading to erratic command, especially of his secondary stuff. He touched 99 mph in the Cape Cod League in 2006 and again during an early-season outing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and he pitches at 94 with exceptional plane. His mid-80s spike-curveball is filthy. Brackman's changeup was the pitch that had improved the most this spring, and grades as a third potential plus offering. He's still unrefined, but even without the polish, Brackman shouldn't slide out of the top 10 picks.

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