A Closer Look: Brad Peacock

Over the next couple of days Swingin’ A’s will take a closer look at some of the prospects the Athletics scored in the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey trades. We now turn our attention to right-handed pitcher Brad Peacock, who was acquired in the Gio Gonzalez trade. 

The A’s are a team that seemingly knows how to find great, young, and inexpensive pitching and the acquisition of Brad Peacock is no exception. Peacock, 23, was a former top prospect for the Washington Nationals that the A’s acquired when they sent their All-Star lefty Gio Gonzalez to D.C.

Peacock, a former 41st round draft pick of the 2006 MLB Draft, has a good-arm and currently ranks as Oakland’s No.2 prospect according to MLB.com. According to FanGraphs.com, Peacock currently boasts a fastball that reaches 96 mph in addition to a curveball and a developing change-up.

Peacock enjoyed some success this past season with Washington’s Double-A and Triple-A teams, going a combined 15-3 with a 2.39 ERA over a total of 146.2 innings pitched. He went 10-2 with a 2.01 ERA in Double-A Harrisburg and 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA in Triple-A Syracuse.

He posted a 1.87 FIP this season with Double-A Harrisburg, but put up a 4.18 FIP in Triple-A Syracuse. Overall, Peacock enjoyed much more success with Harrisburg, as he posted an impressive 11.77 K/9 and a 2.10 BB/9 as opposed to a 9.00 K/9 and a 4.50 BB/9 in Syracuse.

Still, Peacock has been regarded as a solid pitching prospect. If he’s able to keep his fastball down low in the zone, he should have prove to be an effective pitchers especially with his good breaking ball and still developing change-up.

There are some scouts and analysts out there that think Peacock would be better suited in the bullpen, which may be true, but that doesn’t take anything away from the young prospect’s value. He’ll definitely have a shot this spring at competing for a spot in Oakland’s new rotation along side of Jarrod Parker, who was acquired in the Trevor Cahill deal.

If he struggles, though, the A’s probably won’t waste any time giving Peacock a little more seasoning in their minor league system. He did make two relief appearances with the Nationals, though, going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA over 12.0 innings of work. He should be close to being major league ready.

Peacock is a solid pitching prospect with a potential to be a good starter for the Athletics in the years to come. He’s also going to be very, very inexpensive for the next few years too. MLB.com currently states 2012 as the ETA for Peacock.

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