In January he and his wife, Blair, joined several Rays employees to help build a garden at Campbell Park Elementary School, only a few blocks from Tropicana Field...the garden was conceived by the Edible Peace Patch Project, which develops innovative community-oriented food system and nutrition educational programs in South St. Petersburg...A fan of alternative music, Brandon enjoys Incubus, Father John Misty and The Black Keys...His father, Paul, has been playing for 37 years in a band called The Crowd in their hometown of Fall River, Mass. ...The Crowd plays together often and actively records original music...Paul has built two electric guitars for Brandon, the first of which was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina during his college days at Tulane...Took the LSAT after graduating from Tulane...if he were not playing baseball, he would have attended law school and pursued a career in law or finance.
2013
Limited to 26 relief appearances due to a right lat strain, which sidelined him for 88 games May 8-Aug 16…went 3-1 with a 6.52 ERA (19.1-IP, 14-ER)…pitched in 14 games before the injury (0-1, 5.40) and 12 games after his return... Pitched his best down the stretch for the Rays…picked up 3 wins and allowed just 2 runs over his final 9 apps, beginning Sep 14 (5.1-IP, 4-H, 3-BB, 9-SO)…one of his 3 wins came on Sep 18 vs. TEX, when he struck out Ian Kinsler on 3 pitches with the score tied and runners on 2B and 3B for the last out of the 12th inning before the Rays won in walk-off fashion and passed Texas in the AL Wild Card race... Recorded 29 SO to 7 BB in 19.1 IP…struck out 34.9 pct. of his batters faced…the major league average in 2013 was 19.8... Ten of the 14 ER he allowed came over 3 appearances, all on the road: April 18 at BAL (3), April 30 at KC (3) and Sep 2 at LAA (4)... Held right-handed hitters to a .178 avg. (8-for-45) while lefties hit .357 (10-for-28) with 3 HR…in his career, has held righties to a .195 avg. (33-for-169) while lefties have hit .318 (35-for-110)... Opened the season with Triple-A Durham but was recalled on April 5 (before appearing in a game) to replace the injured Jeff Niemann in the bullpen…went on the DL a month later…began rehab assignment in late June, but was was shut down after one rehab appearance due to soreness in the lat area…resumed his rehab assignment on July 17 and made 12 more rehab apps with the GCL Rays, Class-A Charlotte and Durham…reinstated from the DL on Aug 17…optioned to Durham two days later when Desmond Jennings was reinstated from the DL…recalled Aug 30 and spent the remainder of the season with the Rays.
2012
Had five different tours with the Rays for a total of 61 days including 31 after his Sept. 2 recall from Triple-A Durham...in the final month, allowed only 4 hits and 1 ER in 5 games (6-IP)...Held right-handed hitters to a .171 avg. (7-for-41) and has held them to a .202 (25-for-124) mark during his career while opposing lefties have hit .305 (25-for-82) during his career...Earned one of his two wins in the 2nd game of a doubleheader on June 24 at PHI...beat Cliff Lee, 7-3, with two scoreless innings in a game pitched entirely by the Rays bullpen...that same game, he drew a bases-loaded walk off LH
Jake Diekman, becoming the third AL pitcher to draw a bases-loaded walk since the DH rule came into effect in 1973...joined NYY Mariano Rivera (June 28, 2009 at NYM) and ANA Jarrod Washburn (June 10, 2000 at ARI)...In 40 relief appearances for Durham he led all International League relievers (min. 50 IP) with 11.9 SO/9 IP and a 1.05 WHIP (walks plus hits per IP)...was tied for 1st in the IL with a 5.21 SO/BB ratio...earned five wins and saved nine games for the Bulls.
2011
Rookie reliever saw his first action in the majors, making 40 appearances over two stints
in his first season in the Rays system...opened
the season with Triple-A Durham and pitched
in 20 games...Led the team with 29 apps after the All-Star
break, tied for 2nd among AL rookies...finished
the season with 11 straight scoreless apps
(8-IP, 3-H, 1-BB, 10-SO) beginning Sep 7...posted
a 1.13 ERA (8-IP, 1-ER) in 10 September outings...In 19 apps at Tropicana Field, crafted a
1.69 ERA (23.1-IP, 4-ER) and went 2-0 with 4 BB,
20 SO and a .202 opp avg. ...in 21 road games,
went 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA (13.2-IP, 8-ER), 12 BB,
12 SO and a .315 opp avg...Held right-handed batters to a .217 (18-for-83)
avg., while lefties batted .292 (16-for-55)...Recalled on May 3 and made his major league
debut on May 4 vs. TOR, tossing 2 hitless innings in relief of Wade Davis...optioned on
May 30 after 10 apps, compiling a 3.09 ERA
(11.2-IP, 4-ER)...recalled again on July 7 and remained with the club through season's end...Tossed a career-high 3 innings (13th, 14th,
15th) in the Rays 16-inning, 1-0 loss vs. BOS on
July 17 (0-H, 0-R, 2-BB, 3-SO)...Notched his first career win on Aug 4 vs.
TOR...after he worked a scoreless 12th inning,
the Rays won on an RBI single by Robinson
Chirinos...Served as Durham's closer prior to his first callup, collecting 6 saves in April...overall with
Durham crafted a 1.07 ERA (25.1-IP, 3-ER) and
went 7-for-7 in save opps...had 40 SO and 7 BB
in 25.1 IP with a .187 opp avg...During his first stint with Durham had 22 SO
and 5 BB in 13.1 IP.
2010
Went 7-2 with a 1.87 ERA (72.1-IP, 15-ER) for
Double-A San Antonio (Padres), his second
straight year with the Missions. ... Has lowered his ERA every season: 4.23 in
2007, 3.30 in 2008, 2.62 in 2009 and 1.87 in
2010. ... Recorded 93 strikeouts while allowing 25 BB,
52 hits and 2 HR...led all Texas League relievers
in strikeouts and SO/9 IP (11.57). ... Ranked 2nd in the league with 11 holds and
tied for 4th with 51 apps. ... Held opponents to a .198 (52-for-263) avg., 3rd
best among TL relievers...this included a .161
(23-for-143) mark against right-handed hitters...
allowed 9.71 base runners per 9 IP, 3rd
fewest among TL relievers. ... Struck out at least one batter in 30 of his final
31 appearances, beginning June 11. ... Was added to the Padres 40-man roster on
Nov 18...was traded to the Rays in a six-player
deal involving SS Jason Bartlett on Dec 17.
2009
Spent the 2009 season in the San Antonio
bullpen ... led all of minor league baseball with
65 appearances ... was the only minor league
reliever to record 100 strikeouts in 2009. ... His 12.5 SO/9 IP (72-IP, 100-SO) led all Texas
League relievers and ranked 11th overall in the
minors ... led TL relievers with a .206 (54-for-
262) opp avg. ... his 10.50 base runners per 9
IP ratio was 2nd best in the league. ... Recorded a 4.34 ERA (37.1-IP, 18-ER) before
the All-Star break and a 0.78 ERA (34.2-IP,
3-ER) in the second half ... finished the year
with 11 consecutive scoreless apps beginning
Aug 10 ... recorded 24 SO in 13.2 IP in this
stretch...23 of his final 24 outings were scoreless.
2008
In 2008 transitioned to the bullpen with
Class-A Fort Wayne and earned a July 11 promotion
to Class-A Lake Elsinore. ... Combined to go 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA (84.2-IP,
31-ER) in 51 apps (2 starts) and reached a career
high in innings pitched ... his only 2 starts
came in his first 3 apps of the season.
2007
Made his professional debut in 2007 with
Rookie-level Eugene after being selected
in the 17th round of the June Draft ... made 4
scoreless relief apps for the Emeralds, allowing
1 hit, before earning a June 30 promotion
to Fort Wayne.
