Top 10 Yankee Pitching Prospects

1. Andrew Brackman - Brackman is either 6'10" or 6'11" and throws hard. Brackman was clocked at 100 a few times when he was in the Hawaiian Winter League. He also had mixed results in his first continual action since coming back from TJ surgery. His problem was locating his 4-seamer (95-98) and 2-seamer (91-94). The problem seemed to be that both pitches just move too much at times. The good news was that he was able to throw his hard boring curveball for strikes and his split change, which will probably someday beget a true splitter was also coming along. I really like Brackman's chances. The Yanks have been good with helping guys control their fastballs (see Chamberlain, Bruney, Betances) and Brackman, who was athletic enough to play hoops in the ACC should be able to incorporate the adjustments. He needs to be stretched out over the next two years, but, when he starts throwing strike one with that fastball, he's gonna come fast. They'll probably have him pitch winter ball this coming year to keep building him.



2. Dellin Betances - Betances is either 6'8" or 6'9" and he too throws hard. Working in the mid and upper nineties, Dellin cut his walk rate way down after coming back from a tired shoulder in the second half last year. He was even sharper in instructs, and a lot of people are expecting a big year out of Dellin. Simply put, when he's not walking them, they can't really hit him. We'll see how it goes in the FSL, but he could start moving fast and end up in AA for the second half if his walks stay down.



3. Zach McAllister - Zach Mac is either 6'6" or 6'7" and he too throws hard, but not as hard as the first two. Zach is a sinker/slider pitcher who produces tons of ground balls, doesn't walk anyone and doesn't give up any homers. A good case could be made for ranking him higher, especially after he dominated low and high A last summer. But Zach doesn't currently have a strike out pitch, and until he sharpens his slider or finds a way to switch levels with his rarely used 4-seamer, the low K's are gonna be a potential problem. But, he has lots of time left and will be very young for AA this year.


4. Mark Melancon - Melancon is ready. Short by Yankee pitching stud standards Mark features a mid-90's fastball, a two seamer that guys pound into the dirt, a monster curveball and a darn good change. He sounds like a starter, but he's a reliever who uses all 4 pitches to dominate everyone he faces. He's not on the 40 man roster yet, but that could change and soon.


5. Christian Garcia - Garcia is another big righty with electric stuff. His career has been truncated by injuries, but he's looked good in his latest comeback and when he's dealing he has a plus fastball, plus curve and plus change. He could come fast this year and might have to be used as a reliever on the big league team as he approaches his cap this season. He didn't have his fastball all the way back last season, but if the does this season, he's gonna be one of the big stories. He had some growing up to do, and it seems like he's done it.


6. Manny Banuelos - Manny is a 17 or 18 year old lefty the Yanks signed last February along with Aceves and two other pitchers. He has great pitchability and average velocity so far, but he does look like he's gonna fill out more and the velocity is projetable. Teen lefty's with three good pitches have to be viewed as great values, so until he shows he's not, I'm going to keep him highly ranked.


7. Jairo Heredia - Another young pitcher, he was terrific in Charleston last season. He's a righty but also features 3 good pitches and projectability with his fastball. After his successful GCL season in `07, Jody Reed compared him to Pedro, who Reed had known as a prospect. His performance in low A did nothing to dispute Reed's assesment. He'll be part of a loaded rotation in Tampa this year.


8. Arodys Vizcaino - Arodys is younger than Jairo, and that's basically the only reason I have him ranked lower. He's bigger and throws harder than Jairo, and has the same curve and change. He and Banuelos could be anchoring the Charleston rotation this summer or they could be in SI. He's another high upside international kid that was collected over the last three years.


9. Jeremy Bleich - I'm probably underrating Bleich. He was the Yanks sandwich pick in 2008 and after pitching well in the College World Series, went on to pitch really well in the HBL. He's a lefty with a fastball, curve, change and cutter. He is said to throw low 90's which is fine for a lefty and some in the organization see him as a shorter Pettitte, if so, I have indeed underrated him.

10. Michael Dunn - Dunn is a power lefty, whose fastball really exploded, touching 97, when they switched him to relief last season. Given his big fastball, and what may be the best slider this side of Joba, he could come fast now that he's in the pen.


Others considered: George Kontos, DJ Mitchell, Michael Dunn, Wilkins De Le Rosa (LHP), Eric Hacker, Brett Marshall.