Quick Hits: Pitch Clocks, Mariners, Brash, Cubs, Baez
After one day of enforcing new pitch clock rules in the minor leagues, supporters of faster action and shorter games will be encouraged. Per J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, yesterday’s games were more than 25 minutes shorter on average. The pitch clock is set to 14 seconds with the bases empty and 18 seconds with men on base, but equally important is the fact that batters are expected to remain in the box. The experiment will last all season long, and enforcement is expected to be stricter this year than with smaller-scale experiments of past seasons. If yesterday’s sample is any indication, these changes could very well be on their way to the Majors. With all this extra time, let’s check in elsewhere around the game…
- When the Mariners traded for right-hander Matt Brash at the 2020 trade deadline, their interest was based on a 71-pitch sample from the 5 1/3 innings in High-A that, at that point, made up the entirety of Brash’s professional career. Because of the pandemic, he wasn’t pitching in the minor leagues where the Mariners (or Padres, for that matter) could gather more data. He was at home in Canada lifting weights, per The Athletic’s Corey Brock, who charts the path Brash took from Niagara University to the big leagues. Brash was a surprise addition to the Major League roster this season, making his theoretical breakout an inflection point that could impact the American League West. It’s too early to tell, but Brash is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
- Javier Baez and the Cubs were on the verge of an extension when the pandemic hit in 2020, per Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. Timing is everything, however. It was timing that allowed those young Cubs stars to converge for a 2016 title, and it was the timing of their free agencies that ultimately pushed Cubs leadership to ship them out.
Matt Brash Makes Mariners’ Rotation
Pitching prospect Matt Brash has earned a spot in the Mariners’ rotation to begin the season, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. The righty had his contract selected by the club in late September of last year but never got into a game, meaning it will be his MLB debut when he finally takes the hill in the coming days.
It’s been a remarkable rise for the Kingston, Ontario native over the past few years. Selected by the Padres in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, he pitched a few innings of rookie ball and A-ball that season. In 2020, of course, the minor league seasons were canceled by the pandemic, leaving Brash unable to pitch in any official games. At that year’s trade deadline, he was the player to be named later in a minor trade that saw reliever Taylor Williams go to San Diego. As noted by Kramer, Brash wasn’t considered a top 30 prospect of the Padres before the trade nor of the Mariners after.
In 2021, Brash proved that the Mariners had unearthed a hidden gem, as he threw 97 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A, putting up an ERA of 2.31 between those two levels. Although his 11.9% walk rate was a bit high, his 35.1% strikeout rate was elite. Based on that dominant performance, the club selected him to their big league roster September 28th, hoping that he could help cover some innings as they were making a push for a wild card spot, despite Brash never pitching at the Triple-A level. He didn’t end up taking the mound in those final few games, however.
Based off his excellent work last year, Brash is now considered one the 98th prospect in the game by MLB Pipeline, comes in at #84 at ESPN and #45 at Baseball America. This spring, Brash has continued to build his reputation, throwing 9 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts, 2 walks and just a single earned run. The new CBA features a provision called the Prospect Promotion Incentive whereby teams can earn an extra pick in the draft if a rookie-eligible player with 60 days or fewer of major league service who is included on a preseason top 100 prospect list by two or more of Baseball America, ESPN.com or MLB.com is promoted and finishes high in award voting in any year before he is eligible for arbitration. Since Brash cracked all three of those lists and has just six days of MLB service time, he could earn the M’s an extra draft pick for a Rookie of the Year win or a top three finish in MVP or Cy Young voting in his pre-arbitration seasons. If the international draft is implemented, he could earn the club a selection if second or third in Rookie of the Year, or fourth or fifth in Cy Young. A team can gain at most one PPI pick in the amateur draft and three total PPI picks for any individual prospect, two international and one amateur, with a max of one such pick per year. (Further details about the incentive are laid out by Evan Drellich of The Athletic.)
After an 89-win season in 2018, Seattle surprisingly decided to tear down their roster and enter a rebuild. After just a pair of losing seasons, they took a huge leap forward last year, winning 90 games and narrowly missing the postseason. Before the lockout, they added the reigning AL Cy Young Robbie Ray to the rotation, joining holdovers Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Logan Gilbert. The 23-year-old Brash will round out that group to start the season. As noted by Kramer, Brash will be the first native of Kingston, Ontario to pitch in the big leagues.
Despite all that praise for Brash, he’s actually the second-best pitching prospect in the system, with George Kirby ahead of him on most lists. However, Kirby will head back down to the minors, based on the fact that he only logged 67 2/3 innings last year. “He didn’t have a huge workload last year,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It’s really important that he continues to progress. George is going to pitch for us this year, there’s no question about it. And I think he’s going to be a huge part of how our season plays out.” Should Kirby continue to develop, the Mariners will have an excellent depth option ready to go in the event of a need in the big league rotation.
Mariners Select Matt Brash’s Contract, Designate Matt Andriese
2:15PM: Brash’s contract has officially been selected. Right-hander Matt Andriese was designated for assignement in the corresponding move.
11:17AM: The Mariners will select the contract of pitching prospect Matt Brash before today’s game with the Athletics, assistant GM Justin Hollander said in an interview with ESPN 710 radio (hat tip to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times). The M’s have a space on their 40-man roster to accommodate Brash, though they’ll have to make another move to make room on the active roster.
Brash was seen yesterday working out with the Mariners, so speculation immediately arose that the 23-year-old right-hander was on the verge of his MLB debut. Brash is expected to pitch today in relief of scheduled starter Tyler Anderson, who is throwing on only two days’ rest.
Joining a team in the thick of a playoff race is quite the step for a pitcher who hasn’t even made an appearance at the Triple-A level, let alone the majors. Brash was promoted to Triple-A Tacoma on Friday but didn’t get a chance to pitch for Tacoma before getting the call to the Show.
A fourth-round pick for the Padres in the 2019 draft, Brash came to Seattle in the August 2020 trade deadline swap that saw Taylor Williams head to San Diego. His first year in the Mariners organization has been a successful one, as Brash has a 2.31 ERA and an outstanding 35.06% strikeout rate over 97 1/3 innings (42 1/3 IP at High-A ball, 55 IP at Double-A), starting 19 of his 20 games. Control is a bit of a red flag, as Brash has an 11.85% walk rate this season.
Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rank Brash within the Mariners’ top 10 prospects, with BA placing Brash ninth and Pipeline putting him right at the #10 spot. Brash’s slider has taken steps forward this year but his fastball is his top pitch, clocking “up to 99 mph with high spin rates,” according to Baseball America’s scouting report. That same report also notes that Brash drew some trade attention from other teams, so the Canadian’s breakout year has impressed evaluators beyond just Seattle’s organization.
The Mariners enter today’s action just 1.5 games back of the second AL wild card slot. The Yankees hold the first wild card position and are a game ahead of the Red Sox, while the Blue Jays sit a game behind Boston (and a half-game ahead of Seattle). The A’s are also still in the mix, 3.5 games back of Boston and with two remaining games in this series with the M’s. This division rivalry has become surprisingly one-sided, however, as Seattle is 13-4 against Oakland this season.
With the postseason race this tight, the Mariners are turning to all available arms to help, even inexperienced youngsters like Brash. Yusei Kikuchi had been the scheduled starter for today’s game, but Kikuchi has been so inconsistent over the last two months that the M’s are instead opting with the Anderson/Brash combination. If Brash is able, he might be in line for more than one multi-inning appearance down the stretch (or, the Mariners hope, into the playoffs).