Brent Honeywell

Note: This page is for 2020s pitcher Brent Honeywell; for his father who pitched in the minors in the 1980s, click here.

Brent Lee Honeywell Jr.

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.
School Walters State Community College
High School Franklin County High School (Carnesville)
Debut April 11, 2021

Born March 31, 1995 in Carnesville, GA USA

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Brent Honeywell, also known as Brent Honeywell Jr., was the recipient of the Larry Doby Award as the Most Valuable Player in the 2017 Futures Game. He was the first pitcher to win the honor in the history of the award.

Honeywell was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2nd round of the 2014 amateur draft. He went 2-1, 1.07 in 9 games for the Princeton Rays of the Appalachian League that first season. He split 2015 between the Bowling Green Hot Rods and the Charlotte Stone Crabs, going a combined 9-6, 3.18 in 24 games. He struck out 129 batters in 130 1/3 innings. He started 2016 back with Charlotte before getting a mid-year promotion to the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League. In 20 starts, he was 7-3, 2.34 in 115 1/3 innings, picking up 117 strikeouts. In 2017, he made two starts at Montgomery, going 1-1, 2.08, then was promoted to AAA with the Durham Bulls of the International League. That was when he was selected for the United States team in the annual Futures Game, played at Marlins Park on July 9th. He got the start and impressed with two solid innings during which he gave up just one hit and struck out four. By the time Michael Kopech replaced him on the mound, he had a 3-0 lead and was credited with the 7-6 win in addition to being named the game's MVP. On September 19th, he had another great performance on a big stage, as he won the Triple-A National Championship Game against the Memphis Redbirds, representing the Pacific Coast League. The win came in a rare relief outing, as he pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the 5-3 win by Durham. He had gone a combined 13-9, 3.49 in 26 games between Montgomery and Durham with 172 Ks in 136 2/3 innings.

In one of his first pitching workouts of spring training on February 22, 2018, he suffered a right forearm strain. It was quickly confirmed that he had a torn ulnar collateral nerve and that Tommy John surgery would be required, wiping out his season. In June of 2019, he was rehabilitating at the Rays' minor league complex in Port Charlotte, FL when he broke a bone in his right elbow during a bullpen session, wiping out that entire season as well as he had to undergo another round of surgery. He was then a victim of the Coronavirus pandemic, which wiped out the 2020 minor league season, although he was at the Rays' secondary training site and was on their postseason player list, even if he was never activated. Thus, he had not pitched competitively for three and a half years when he finally took part in a game in spring training with the Rays on March 22, 2021, pitching one inning against the Boston Red Sox in a Grapefruit League game. He made his long-delayed big league debut as the starting pitcher against the New York Yankees on April 11th. Used as an opener, he retired all six batters he faced in a very impressive performance before turning the ball over to Michael Wacha. He only pitched twice more that season, for a total of 4 1/3 innings while giving up 4 runs, for an ERA of 8.31. He then spent the rest of the season in AAA, going 5-4, 3.97 for Durham.

He began to move around after his first season, spending 2022 in the Oakland Athletics minor league system where he went 0-3, 7.08 in 13 games. In 2023, he started the year as a member of the San Diego Padres' bullpen and was 2-4, 4.05 in 36 games. He was then claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox on August 5th and pitched for times each for the major league team and for the AAA Charlotte Knights, not doing well at either stop: his ERA was 7.04 in AAA and 11.12 in Chicago. In 2024, he moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the organization for which his father had spent his whole career, pitching just twice at the major league level for the Bucs. He was 1-3, 4.85 with the AAA Indianapolis Indians. On July 13th, the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed him off waivers and it turned out to be the break he needed. He made his first start since 2021 in his first appearance, on July 14th, giving up just one hit in 3 scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers. He went back to the minors in mid-August, making a couple of scoreless appearances for the Oklahoma City Baseball Club, but came back to L.A. after that and continued to do well, going 1-1, 2.62 in 18 games and 34 1/3 innings. He was on the Dodgers' postseason roster and pitched a total of 7 2/3 innings in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, giving up 4 runs while preserving some of the team's front-line pitchers from having to pitch in games whose outcome had already been decided.

Honeywell has a fastball in the upper 90's in addition to a solid curve ball. He also throws an occasional screwball, which is such a rare pitch coming from a righthander that it leaves batters completely baffled. His father, also named Brent Honeywell, pitched in the minors from 1988 to 1990 and was a cousin of Mike Marshall. The younger Honeywell's screwball was taught him by Marshall, although he did not adopt some of the PhD's more unorthodox pitching advice.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Won one World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024

Related Sites[edit]

Search

Namespaces

Views

Brent Honeywell

Contents

Biographical Information[edit]

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

Full Site Menu

FAQs, Tip & Tricks