MLB

Yankees prospect ‘Brack’ in business

MOOSIC, Pa. — There have been a lot of low points for Andrew Brackman during his professional career, but none lower than his start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Buffalo on July 29.

The Yankees prospect walked nine batters that night, throwing 35 strikes in 82 pitches before finally being yanked from the game with one out in the fourth inning after walking the bases loaded. At that point, he had walked 69 and struck out 58 in 75 2/3 innings for SWB this season.

“After I had that awful game, I kind of sat down with myself and thought, ‘What I’m doing isn’t working, so I need to change something,’ ” Brackman said.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for Brackman, who signed with the Yankees in 2007 for $3.35 million, a franchise record for a draft pick, before his career was delayed by Tommy John surgery shortly after he was drafted. That helped push back his pro debut until 2009, when he struggled mightily with Low-A Charleston.

But after excelling last season, compiling a 3.01 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 81 innings with Double-A Trenton, it looked like he had turned the corner — only to spend most of this season in free-fall with no help in sight.

“You’re looking for help, and I guess the only person who can help you is yourself,” he said.

So, after that disastrous outing in Buffalo, Brackman spent the next eight days doing just that. He chose to go back to the motion he used in college at North Carolina State, mainly by starting with his hands higher than at his belt, where they had been.

Almost immediately, Brackman said he noticed a difference.

“It’s just feeling comfortable,” he said. “I guess I just wasn’t comfortable with my mechanics at the beginning of the season, and now I am.”

After weeks of not knowing where the ball was going, of coming into games and throwing one pitch in the dirt, followed by the next sailing over the batter’s head and slamming into the backstop, Brackman is starting to show glimpses of the talent that made him a first-round pick.

In his next four outings — all in relief — Brackman struck out 10 and walked two in 8 2/3 innings. That includes a pair of back-to-back appearances with no walks, the first time that had happened this season.

“Even in my bullpen sessions, my command has been 100 times better,” he said. “Even just tossing . . . I can hit the man in the chest.

“It’s so difficult when you’re out there and you’re throwing it over the guy’s head and into the stands when you’re playing catch. . . . It just feels natural now. I’m actually throwing the ball.”

All of a sudden, the confidence that had deserted him has started to come back. All of a sudden, his fastball is back in the mid-90s, including hitting 96 in his most recent outing on Thursday.

His overall numbers — 2-6, 6.83 ERA as play began last night — are still nothing to get excited about. But, all of a sudden, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for Brackman, just when it looked like he might have been a lost cause.

“I had some really low points this season, and I was searching everywhere trying to find something that would work,” he said. “It’s kind of crazy how one little thing, you tweak one little thing, and things work.

“It feels good,” he added, smiling.

For the first time in a long time, the thought of taking the ball is something for Brackman to smile about.

tbontemps@nypost.com