Buy baseball bats online at HomeRunMonkey baseball equipment store.

11. David Bromberg, RHP, 22 years old

2009 stats: 2.70 ERA, 153.1 IP, 148/63 K/BB, 1.226 WHIP at Ft. Myers (A+)
Last year’s rank: Not ranked
Acquired: 32^nd round selection of the Minnesota Twins in the 2005 draft

For a 32^nd round selection, David Bromberg has certainly made a name for himself. Drafted out of high school in 2005 as a draft-and-follow, Bromberg entered the world of professional baseball with no small amount of flaws. The Twins, though, known for their top-notch pitching instructors, saw loads of potential in the young right-hander from California.

Bromberg has advanced one level for each of his four years in the Twins' minor league system. Starting out in the Gulf Coast League, Bromberg finished 2009 with the Ft. Myers Miracle, with whom he won the Pitcher of the Year award from the Twins. The 22-year-old has certainly come a long way since his time in Palisades High School, and many improvements have been made on Bromberg's mechanics.

In 2008, Bromberg led the minor leagues with a total of 177 strikeouts in 150 innings. This he managed despite a poor start to the season due to do short-arming his curveball. The curveball is his out-pitch, and, for a strikeout pitcher like Bromberg, directly correlated to his success. Roving pitching coach Rick Knapp re-introduced a drill for Bromberg at about mid-season, which brought his curveball back under control.

Bromberg has four pitches in his arsenal, but rarely throws his 95-mph four-seam fastball. Instead, he throws a 92 mph two-seamer, a circle-change, and his strikeout-pitch, a curveball. Bromberg boasts two flavors of his deadly breaking ball: a biting curve at 83 mph, and a slow arcing curve that usually registers around 76 mph.

The young right-hander admits that he needs more work on his off-speed pitches in order to succeed at higher levels. Bromberg's strikeout rate fell by about two per nine innings this season, and he is walking more than last year, but his WHIP, hits per nine, and home runs per nine are all down. This is reflective of his average BABIP, which indicates that we can expect more seasons like 2009 from Bromberg's right arm.

Ideal scenario: Bromberg continues his methodical advance through the Twins' system, playing in New Britain in 2010 and with the Red Wings the year after that. He could be a September call-up in either 2011 or 2012.

Path to the majors: There are never too many power pitchers in the major leagues. Whenever Bromberg is deemed ready by the Minnesota administration, room will be made for him in the starting rotation.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment