NEWARK, NJ - With the arm injury to starter Will Cunnane and the sudden, unexpected retirement of closer Al Levine, the Newark Bears have been a little thin in their pitching ranks over the last couple of weeks.

However, help is on the way in the form of Franklin Gracesqui. The big, six-foot-five left-hander with a live arm is about to be added to Newark’s stable of pitchers.

Gracesqui has been in professional baseball since 1998 as a 21st round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in that year’s amateur draft.

Since then, the Dominican Republic native posted fairly impressive numbers in the minors. In 362 career minor league innings, his 382 strikeouts stand out as an indicative stat of his pitching style.

He also made it to the majors in 2004 with the Florida Marlins who had claimed in two years prior in the Rule 5 Draft. He earned seven relief appearances with the team and picked up one save. He pitched in Japan last year for the Chunichi Dragons posting a 3-0 record with a 2.35 ERA.

Gracesqui was signed ten days ago, but has been recovering from an emergency appendectomy he had earlier in the spring. This has delayed his debut with the Bears.

After the Bears 10-4 win on Long Island on Saturday night, pitching coach Steve Foucault mentioned that he’d already been on the mound three times. He’d thrown a bullpen session that day and was scheduled for a simulated game on Tuesday in Newark.

“If all goes well and we think he’s ready to face hitters in a real game, we’ll activate him on Friday [at home against Long Island],” said Foucault.

Foucault spoke highly of the 27-year-old’s stuff as well as his pitching motion.

“He’s got a great fastball,” he said. “I’m just guestimating, but he’s throwing between 88 and 90 MPH probably, and he’s got a slider and a change-up that look good too and he’s mechanically pretty sound.”

Gracesqui is already familiar to a couple of Newark Bears. He was teammates with outfielders Keith Reed and Val Majewski during a stint in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He also played in the Dominican League with right fielder Jose Herrera.

Gracesqui is listed as the probable starter for Saturday, June 14th against the Long Island Ducks.

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