Brandon Gold

Brandon David Gold

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 203 lb.

• School Georgia Institute of Technology
• High School Johns Creek High School

• Born September 16, 1994 in Atlanta, GA USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Brandon Gold pitched in the minors (two years at AAA) and for the Israeli national team.

He hit .246/.316/.312 as a freshman at Georgia Tech, starting at third base and fielding .963 there. His playing time fell as a sophomore but he hit .273/.371/.403 and he was 7-3 with a 3.26 ERA. He had a 9-3, 2.48 record as a junior and produced at a .244/.436/.439 rate. He tied Adam Haseley, Kyle Funkhouser and others for 8th in the Atlantic Coast Conference in wins and was second-team All-ACC.

The Colorado Rockies took him in the 12th round of the 2016 amateur draft, one round after Bryan Baker. He was 1-2 with a 4.01 ERA for the Boise Hawks, walking only 2 in 24 2/3 IP that summer. In 2017, he was with the Asheville Tourists (4-5, 4.33) and Lancaster JetHawks (4-3, 4.40) then was 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA in the postseason for Lancaster. He had 112 K to 21 BB. He was 5th in the Rockies chain in strikeouts (between Trey Killian and Jesús Tinoco) and tied for 10th in wins.

In 2018, he was 9-9 with a 5.44 ERA for the JetHawks. He tied Heath Holder and Matt Milburn for third in the California League in wins, led in IP (154, one ahead of Matt Dennis) and tied Darren McCaughan for 7th in whiffs (121). He tied Holder and Tinoco for 3rd in the Colorado farm system in victories, was second to Rico Garcia in innings and was 6th in K (between Dennis and Lucas Gilbreath).

His best minor league season was probably 2019, when he was 12-6 with a 3.56 ERA for the Hartford Yard Goats, walking only 22 in 144 innings. He also went deep twice and slugged .478. He was one win behind Eastern League pacesetter Zac Lowther and 9th in ERA (between Caleb Baragar and Jack Wynkoop). He set a Yard Goats record for wins. He led Colorado farmhands in wins (two ahead of Garcia, Will Gaddis and Tim Melville) and was 10th with 115 strikeouts (between Ryan Feltner and Shelby Lackey).

The 2020 minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned to action with the 2021 Albuquerque Isotopes and hit .250/.250/.375 but was 3-7 with a 6.15 ERA. He fell to 6-8, 7.25 for the same team in 2022, serving up 30 gopher balls in 108 innings. In the high-flying 2022 PCL (5.79 R/G), his ERA was not far from the team mark of 6.89. He was third in homers allowed in the league, behind Parker Dunshee and Ryan Weathers.

He then made Israel's squad for the 2023 World Baseball Classic; as usual, their WBC team relied heavily on Jewish American players. He made one appearance, relieving Colton Gordon in the 2nd against Puerto Rico, already down 3-0 with a man on and no outs. He walked Francisco Lindor then Kiké Hernández doubled and Spencer Horwitz made an error on the play to put it at 5-0. He retired MJ Melendez but Emmanuel Rivera tripled in a 6th run. He escaped further harm by getting Javier Báez on a grounder and striking out Eddie Rosario. He then had a 1-2-3 third against Nelson Velázquez, Neftali Soto (K) and Martín Maldonado. He also threw a scoreless 4th, allowing a Lindor single and striking out Melendez. Báez opened the 5th with a double but Gold got both Rosario and Velázquez (the latter by strikeout) then gave way to Joey Wagman, who let the inherited runner score. Gold was Israel's second-best hurler on the day, after Daniel Federman. Only Dean Kremer and Robert Stock worked more innings for Israel in the event and only Zack Weiss had more strikeouts.

Gold did not pitch in the minors that summer and his career appears over as of this writing in May 2024.