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Brett Marshall began 2013 as the consensus best pitching prospect in the Yankees system on many prospect lists (mostly by default due to injuries), Top 10 on both Fangraphs' and John Sickel's preseason rankings of the Yankees top prospects. But it has not been a particularly stellar year for Marshall, as he has struggled making the transition from AA to AAA.
Season | Team | |||||||||||
7 | 10 | 25 | 25 | 138.2 | 7.79 | 4.41 | 1.10 | 1.53 | 5.13 | 4.62 |
Marshall was never considered a power arm, and would have to rely on his control and plus-changeup in order to succeed in the majors. But walks and home runs have hurt him during his time in Scranton this year. Marshall did have a cup of coffee with the big league club in May, when he pitched 5 2/3 innings in relief in the May 15th matchup against the Seattle Mariners. It was a tough thing to watch, as the youngster was allowing to languish on the mound to the tune of five runs allowed, with one strikeout, five walks and two home runs. Small sample size of course, but first impressions are always preferred to be good ones.
How can Brett Marshall help the team?
The Yankees could always use extra arms, so as not to burn up any of their most important relievers in the case of a blowout. And considering the tenuous grip that Phil Hughes has on the last spot in the rotation, a player like Marshall could fill in as a long man if Adam Warren or David Huff need to slotted in to the fifth starter spot to replace Hughes. And maybe, just maybe, he can push Joba Chamberlain further and further to the back of the bullpen until he starts sporting cobwebs.
What can we expect from Brett Marshall?
As noted before, it's been a tough season for Marshall, so keep the expectations muted. He's not a dynamic guy like Dellin Betances, don't expect power sliders and 97 MPH fastballs. Hopefully the time with Yankees can be a valuable experience for the youngster, because barring something unforeseen, he should figure into the Yankees plans in 2014 in regards to long relief and spot starts, like David Phelps of a few years ago. Some nice innings this month and a good spring next year could go a long way to cementing his role in the club's future.
Are there any possible nicknames/puns for Brett Marshall?
I believe I've seen "The Marshall Plan" used before, which I have an affinity for. I also like "Marshall, Marshall, Marshall!". Feel free to one-up me in the comments.
So lets all give a warm hand to the return of Brett Marshall, and hope that his appearances are during games that the Yankees have ten run leads. It's about as high-leverage a situation that we're going to see him in.
