Yankees Daily

Full Name: Gavin Lee Brooks
Position: Pitcher
Born: 10/27/1987
Birthplace: Vista, CA
College: UC Los Angeles
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight: 220
Bats: L
Throws: L

Background:

Selected by the New York Yankees in the ninth round (285th overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of UCLA. He didn’t have a great two first years in college. Signed for $125,000. The main reason for Gavin’s trouble during his first two seasons in college with the Bruins is the fact that he entered college coming off a torn rotator cuff which hurt his draft status out of high school. He was still named the 33rd best player out of high school by TeamOneBaseball.com and was ranked the 64th best prospect in the state of California by Baseball America Because of his injury, he only pitched eight innings in his senior year in high school but hit very well as evidenced by his 375 AVG and .573 OBP. Instead, he went to UCLA after high school. Was an economics major.

High School:

Gavin was a three-year varsity baseball letterwinner at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista California. Was a Dean’s List honoree each of his four years. He also played three years of basketball, earning all-conference honors as a junior.

Freshman2003:

Earned most valuable player honors at Rancho Buena Vista as a freshman.

Sophomore 2004:

Posted a 6-1 record with 56 strikeouts in 50 innings as a sophomore. That season, he earned Rancho Buena Vista most outstanding pitching accolades.

Junior 2005:

Posted a .400 batting average as a junior, collecting a team-best 24 RBI. Gained 2005 All-Avocado League honors and captured San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic accolades with a 4.1 GPA as a junior. Ranked the third-best prospect in the nation among high school juniors in the 2004 Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association Fall Championship.

Senior 2006:

Recorded a .375 batting average and a .573 on-base percentage as a senior. He tallied 24 runs scored, 11 RBI and two home runs. Pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 batters while allowing two hits. Named the 2006 Rancho Buena Vista male athlete of the year. Captured San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic accolades with a 4.2 GPA as a senior.

College at UCLA:

Served as a starting pitcher in UCLA’s weekend rotation in 2007 and 2008, going 12-10 on the mound, before contributing as UCLA’s closer in 2009.

2007:

Made 18 starts as a true freshman. Single-season total of 110.2 innings is the most in school history by a freshman. Also logged 98 strikeouts, a single-season freshman record at the time. Registered a 4.47 ERA and 6-7 record.

2008:

Made 14 starts, logging a 6-3 record and 5.07 ERA in 71.0 innings. Secured honorable mention All-Pac-10 team honors.

2009:

Made a team-leading 27 appearances (one start) and recorded a team-high eight saves, the highest single-season total at UCLA since 1997 (Jake Meyer, eight saves). Earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 team accolades and second-team Pac-10 All-Academic honors for the second consecutive season. Went 0-4 with a 4.71 ERA, recording 36 strikeouts and 20 walks in 36.1 innings. Limited the opposition to a .269 batting average.

Pro Debut:

Had a great year at Staten Island going 5-1 with three saves and a 0.63 ERA. Had a 48-24 K/BB ratio with a 3.00 GB/FB ratio. Even though he had a great season his walks were a little high. He walked five batters per nine. He was still one of Staten Island manager Josh Paul’s most trusted and used pitcher. His 30 appearances for Staten Island were the fourth most in the NY-Penn League and his his 0.62 ERA was second lowest among pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched.

Scouting Report:

Gavin became more comfortable this past year because he was able to throw the pitch he wanted to and didn’t have to wait for the call from the dug out like he had to do in college.

Strengths:

His coach in college would only call for the slow curve ball but he was able to develop a harder breaking ball at Staten Island that he throws five mph faster. It’s either a harder curve ball or a slurve. Brooks calls it a slider. He throws it 78-79 mph and it has lateral movement and it breaks down. In college he threw a slower curve ball known as a spike curve ball but it’s more of a get me over pitch right now. He threw it in the low 70′s.

Brooks has a relatively free and easy delivery and his four-seam fastball has good sink and it sits between 89-91 mph. On occasion, he could throw his fastball at 94 mph. He’ll also try to throw a two-seam fastball to get ground ball outs when he’s behind in the count but it’s a new pitch for him.

Weaknesses:

His arm action is long in the back and hinders his command as evidenced by his walking 4.98 per nine with Staten Island. He could be erratic with his command at times. This is something he’ll have to work at. His other pitch is a sinking change up he’s working on but it’s not consistent at all.

Pitches:

Fastball, curve ball, slider and change up.

The future:

Because of his harder breaking ball, he became more successful this year at Staten Island especially since he could devastate you with it when he’s ahead in the count. His arsenal of breaking ball pitches have him destined for the bull pen because he can get right-handed batters and left-handed batters out. It will be interesting to see if batters in the higher levels will lay off his harder breaking ball.

He’ll start the year in Charleston.

Gavin Brooks video at UCLA.  Gavin Brooks video at Staten Island

Gavin Brooks scouting report.

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