Brian Bruney
Age: 25 Years Old (Turns 26 in February).

Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.

SEASON Team W L ERA G SV BS IP H R ER HR BB SO
2004 D-Backs 3 4 4.31 30 0 1 31.1 20 16 15 2 27 34
2005 D-Backs 1 3 7.43 47 12 4 46.0 56 39 38 6 35 51
2006 R Yankees 0 0 4.91 3 0   3.2 1 2 2 0 3 5
2006 AAA D-Backs 0 1 33.75 4 0   2.2 10 12 10 2 4 4
2006 AAA Yanks 1 1 3.14 11 3   14.1 10 6 5 2 8 22
2006 Yankees 1 1 0.87 19 0 0 20.2 14 2 2 1 15 25
2007 Bill James 4 3 4.19 49 0   58.0 50     5 38 63
2007 CHONE     4.20       45.0 40 23 21 6 29 50
2007 Marcel 2 2 4.50   3   40.0 40 22 20 4 20 36
2007 ZiPS 3 3 4.75 48     53.0 47 31 28 5 35 51

SEASON Team K/9 BB/9 K/BB HR/9 AVG WHIP BABIP LOB% FIP
2004 D-Backs 9.77 7.76 1.26 0.57 .185 1.50 .249 70.8 % 4.54
2005 D-Backs 9.98 6.85 1.46 1.17 .302 1.98 .388 65.1 % 5.29
2006 R Yanks 12.27 7.36 1.67 0.00 .088 1.09 .158 66.7 % 4.56
2006 AAA D-Backs 13.50 13.50 1.00 6.75 .571 5.25 .694 17.9 % 14.45
2006 AAA Yanks 13.81 5.02 2.75 1.26 .198 1.26 .303 79.0 % 3.62
2006 Yankees 10.89 6.53 1.67 0.44 .194 1.40 .281 97.9 % 3.73
2007 Bill James 9.78 5.90 1.66 0.78 .234 1.52 .309   4.27
2007 CHONE 10.00 5.80 1.72 1.20 .240 1.53 .307 76.7 % 4.78
2007 Marcel 8.10 4.50 1.80 0.90 .262 1.50 .319 70.9 % 4.35
2007 ZiPS 8.66 5.94 1.46 0.85 .239 1.55 .299 68.0 % 4.48

Outlook: When Bruney was DFA'd by the Diamondbacks, he was coming off a terrible 2005 (7.43 ERA with 51 Ks and 35 BBs in 46 IP) that he had followed up with a horrendous 4 games in AA Tuscon (2.2 IP, 4 BBs, 10 Hits, 2 HRs and 12 runs allowed). At that point, the D'backs felt he was done and designated him for assignment. Bruney then signed with the Yankees and after a few innings in AAA Columbus (22Ks and 8 BBs in 14 IP - see the recurring theme?), he was called up in August. In his first game up, he struck out the three batters he faced and didn't really slow down from that pace, striking out 25 guys over 20.6 innings with a 0.87 ERA.

Do I think that Bruney can replicate what he did last year? In a word...no. I really don't think there's a lot of people out there who would expect the same type of dominance he presented last year. He's got a good fastball (which people have said that he relies too much on) and seems to pitch to the edges of the strike zone (leading to the high number of walks). However, I do think that Brian can be effective. I mean, over his 98 innings of major-league work, he has a 10.10 K per 9 so he can obviously get guys out. However, he also has a 7.07 BB per 9 and a 1.70 WHIP over that time period and that's just not going to get it done. Name one pitcher that has had success with a walk rate that high - it's impossible. Still, with that fastball/slider combo, if he was able to bring down (and keep down) the walk rate to a more manageable 5 BB per 9 (what he did consistently in AAA) and then go from there, then we would be looking at someone who could really help the pen. Actually, we'd basically be looking at a younger, wilder Kyle Farnsworth and that ain't too bad for someone the Yankees picked up for a few pennies.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

G Innings W L BB KSVBlSv ERA