Hunter Brown

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Note: This page is for 2020s pitcher Hunter Brown; for others with the same name, click here.

Hunter Noah Brown

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Hunter Brown was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 5th round of the 2019 amateur draft from Wayne State University in his hometown of Detroit, MI. He was selected to play for the American League team at the 2022 Futures Game, played at Dodger Stadium on July 16th, and made his major league debut less than two months later, on September 5, 2022, starting for the Astros against the Texas Rangers. He did very well, giving up no runs on 3 hits in 6 innings, walking 1 and striking out 5 and received credit for his team's 1-0 win. He was coming off a season where he had gone 9-4, 2.55 in 23 games for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of the Pacific Coast League, with 134 strikeouts in 106 innings.

He emerged as a potential major league prospect during his junior season at Wayne State in 2019, when he went 9-0, 2.21 in 14 starts and pitched 3 shutouts. After being drafted by the Astros and signed by scout Scott Oberhelman, he went 2-2, 4.56 in 12 games for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the New York-Penn League in 2019, but then had to sit out the 2020 season when the Coronavirus pandemic shut down the minor leagues. In 2021, he split his season between the AA Corpus Christi Hooks and AAA Sugar Land (still known as the Sugar Land Skeeters at the time), going 6-5, 4.04 in 24 games. He attracted attention by striking out 131 batters in 100 1/3 innings.

Brown made it to the majors in September of 2022 after going 9-4, 2.55 in 23 games for the AAA Sugar Land Space Cowboys. He excelled in his first taste of the big leagues as he went 2-0, 0.89 in 7 games, including 2 starts. He allowed just 15 hits in 20 1/3 innings, while striking out 22 batters. The Astros put him on their postseason roster and he made three scoreless appearances in relief, including a two-inning stint in Game 3 of the Division Series against the Seattle Mariners, which the Astros won, 1-0, in 18 innings. He handled the 12th and 13th innings in these very tight circumstances, giving up just a hit and a walk. He was not needed in the World Series, in which Houston defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, but was still a contributor to the Championship.

Expectations for him were perhaps a bit too high heading into the 2023 season, given how well he had pitched in September and October the previous year, as many picked him to win the Rookie of the Year Award. He did all right, managing to stick in Houston's starting rotation all year, with 29 starts in 31 appearances and 178 strikeouts in 155 2/3 innings. However, his ERA was high at 5.09, and while he did win 11 games, he also lost 13, most on the staff. In the postseason, he was used only in relief, giving up 2 runs in 7 innings spread out over 4 outings as the Astros were eliminated at the ALCS stage. In 2024, he got off to a terrible starts, going 0-4, 9.78 in his first 6 starts. However, like his team, he turned things completely around starting May, going 11-5, 2.51 the rest of the way. He increased his innings total to 170 and racked up 179 strikeouts. He made his first postseason start in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers on October 2nd. He pitched very well, giving up just 1 run on 2 hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out 9. The Tigers won that game with 4 runs in the 8th inning, eliminating Houston from the postseason.

As a kid growing up in Detroit, his elementary school once received a visit from his idol, Justin Verlander, then pitching for the Detroit Tigers, accompanied by Carlos Guillen. When he first reached the majors in 2022, Verlander was now his teammate.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • Won one World Series with the Houston Astros in 2022 (he did not play in the World Series)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Brian McTaggart: "'Fired up from the get-go,' Brown notches win in electric debut", mlb.com, September 6, 2022. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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