Yimmi Brasoban

Position: RHRP
Level: Double-A
Affiliate: San Antonio Missions
League:
Age: 21 yrs, 11m
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 185
B/T: Right / Right
Acquired: Signed as international free agent 5/12/11 (SDP)

Prospect Spotlight

Brasoban did not stay long in the Cal League, being promoted June 6th after 13.1 dominant innings for Lake Elsinore. Brasoban has the makings of a late-inning reliever with his power arm and average slider.  In my look on June 1st against Rancho Cucamonga prior to his promotion, his fastball was 95-to-97 mph, and he had a tight ¾ slider sitting at 88-to-90 mph.  He has some smooth effort in his delivery and plus arm speed.  He has very long legs, allowing him to get some angle and work downhill with ease.  The fastball explodes out of his hand and seems to accelerate through the zone, getting late tail to both sides of the plate.  He worked quickly, and worked ahead in the count, and spotted the fastball to both sides of the plate.

His slider, while it has the big velocity, is only average right now due to the lack of feel and usability.  The arm speed is there, and he did show some bite with the pitch, but he had to back off to keep it close to the zone.  The ingredients are there for the pitch to get to plus; but given that he is able to locate the big fastball, even if the slider stays at average, it will be more than enough to keep him effective at the upper levels.

That said, he has not always displayed such good fastball command.  Coming over from the Dominican Summer League in 2012 as an 18 year old, he walked 91 in 214.2 IP through 2015.  Look a little more closely and you’ll see that, while in 2014 he walked 35 through 64.2 IP, he improved upon that last year walking only 25 through 71.2 IP last year.  So while some may point to his erratic command in the past as a red flag, those walk numbers are going in the right direction; also take into account how young he is, and it is quite reasonable to expect his arrow to continue pointing up.