Every Tuesday, Minor Matters will run down the top 10 players from the Thunder's 2010 season. In a year that saw eight of Baseball America's 16 pitchers (excluding Mike Dunn
and Arodys Vizcaino, who were out of the organization) in their top 30, not to mention Austin Romine and Brandon Laird, there were plenty of good choices to go around.

No. 2 - Andrew Brackman




















Why he's here: He only joined the team in June, but by the end of the season he was the team's longest tenured starter. And after August, he was the team's ace. From his first start in August until the season ended, Brackman went his final seven starts without allowing more than three earned runs.

He matured greatly throughout his tenure, from a guy who seemed to rattle easily and appeared to not trust his excellent stuff, to an absolutely dominant force who earned a call-up to the big leagues at the end of the year.

This season, just his third full year as a pro, remember, could be the divining rod for his career. If he succeeds, he may wear the pinstripes for a long time. If he struggles with Triple-A hitters, however, there's a pretty good chance he's a very expensive bust.

Outlook for 2011: More than likely, he'll join D.J. Mitchell, Hector Noesi, David Phelps, and perhaps Lance Pendleton or Ivan Nova in the Scranton rotation. There's probably an outside shot of him making the big league bullpen if he blows up the spot in Tampa.