Who is Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Silvino Bracho?

Right-hander Silvino Bracho was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela in July of 1992. He stands about  5' 10" and weighs about 190. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 and has been in their system since 2012.

Bracho began in the Dominican Summer League in 2012, almost a year after he had signed. In the DSL, Bracho was inserted into the closer role. His numbers were excellent: 0.32 ERA, 30/5 K/BB in 28 innings, eight saves in eight attempts. Of course, that was the DSL and good performance there doesn't necessarily translate to higher levels.

For his 2013 campaign, Bracho was assigned to short-season Missoula in the Pioneer League, again in the closer role .  For the most part Bracho performed well in the Pioneer League but, there were some isolated instances where he struggled. Overall he finished with a 1.71 ERA in 26 inning with a 38/3 K/BB in 26 innings, adding 11 more saves to his resume and leading the league in that category.

In 2014, Bracho was assigned to this first full season campaign with the South Bend Silver-Hawks in the Midwest League, again as the closer. He utterly overpowered hitters in the Midwest League and was named circuit Closer of the Year on the strength of 26 saves, a 2.08 ERA in 43 innings, with 70 strikeouts and just eight walks.

In 2015, Silvino Bracho split time between two levels. He began the year in High-A Visalia, where he was literally unhittable: 0.00 ERA in six innings with 14 strikeouts and one walk.  After putting up great numbers in April, Bracho was promoted to Double-A Mobile in May, resulting in a 1.89 ERA and a 59/5 K/BB in 45 innings. Bracho's performance in Mobile showed that he could pitch with the big boys and continue to dominate, leading to his recent major league promotion..

Overall, he has a career 1.52 ERA in the minors with an incredible 221/26 K/BB in 148 innings.Very rarely does a team have a prospect who performs at such a high level while generally remaining an unknown to the fans and the media. Some team observers believe that Bracho is the Arizona Diamondbacks best kept secret. He has been overpowering at every level he has been assigned to, all while flying under the radar.

Bracho's repertoire includes a four-seam fastball in the 92-94 range, a cutter, a slider, a change-up, and a curve. It is unusual for a relief pitcher to have five pitches but he isn't afraid to use them according to his PITCH f/x profile at Fangaphs.com. Bracho's diverse mix of five pitches will certainly help him in at the major league level especially given his consistently strong command. He can touch all the way up to 94 mph with his four-seamer, throw his slider in the 80s, while dropping it down to 79 MPH for his change and curveball.This gives him a wide velocity band with which to work hitters.

His numbers are what ultimately warranted his call up but, the Addison Reed trade certainly helped by freeing up a bullpen spot. Bracho was not on the 40 man roster as of 8/29/2015 but the Reed trade opened a spot.

The D-Backs will have plenty options in the Spring of 2016 for the back-end of their bullpen and Bracho will definitely be in the mix..