Brody Brecht has some of the best pure stuff of any pitcher in this year's Draft class. While his command could push him into a relief role at the next level, his big-time stuff has him profiling as a first-round pick. Here's what you need to know about the No. 21 MLB Draft prospect as he is about to go pro.

FAST FACTS
Position: RHP
Ht/Wt: 6-foot-4, 235 lbs.
B/T: Right/right
DOB: Sept. 27, 2002
College: Iowa
High school: Ankeny (Ankeny, Iowa)
Born: Des Moines, Iowa
MLB Pipeline ranking: No. 21

Comparable stuff to Paul Skenes

To be clear, Brecht is not on the same level of Skenes, one of the most hyped pitching prospects ever who has already shown signs of dominance in the Majors. Brecht does, however, possess a pair of pitches comparable to Skenes.

"When he's on, Brecht's fastball and slider are comparable to those of Skenes, the No. 1 pick in last year's Draft," MLB Pipeline writes in Brecht's report.

Brecht's fastball consistently sits in the upper 90s and has reached as high as 101 mph, while his slider sits 87-89 mph and peaks at 91 mph. As Pipeline says in the report, Brecht is not commanding those pitches as well as Skenes, but there aren't many pitchers in this Draft class with this kind of raw stuff. Brecht also has a low-to-mid 90s splitter that is inconsistent at present but could be a big out pitch in the future.

Given that Brecht is fairly new to focusing solely on baseball, there's ample time for the command problems to figure it out.

Dual-sport athlete at Iowa

Brecht was Pipeline's No. 77 Draft prospect in 2021 as a high schooler, but he went undrafted because of his strong commitment to play wide receiver for Iowa's football team.

Brecht was a star at Ankeny High School in Iowa, where he set school records for receptions (129), receiving yards (2,269) and touchdowns (29), while helping lead his team to a state title in his senior year.

Brecht's collegiate football career didn't go as expected, as he redshirted his freshman year and caught just nine passes in 11 games as a sophomore. As a dual-sport athlete at Iowa, Brecht opted to focus solely on baseball, a decision that is seemingly paying off as Draft season approaches.

Iowa's strikeout king

In a span of two weeks, Brecht became Iowa's all-time strikeout leader and the school's single-season strikeout leader.

On April 28 against Nebraska, Brecht notched his 247th strikeout to become the school's all-time punchout king, doing so in fewer than 200 innings.

Exactly two weeks later against Illinois, he set the single-season record with his 111th strikeout, doing so in fewer than 75 innings.

It's no surprise that someone with Brecht's stuff was able to pull both of these feats off. What's cool is Brecht managed to break major school records within a few weeks in his final season at Iowa.

Strong state pride

Brecht is an Iowan through and through. He was born in Ankeny, a suburb of the state capital of Des Moines, and went to high school there. He's currently attending the University of Iowa, roughly located two hours east of Des Moines in Iowa City.

In his own words, playing at Iowa was a dream come true as someone born and raised in the state.

"My whole life, I grew up always wanting to be in that black and gold," Brecht said in a US Cellular promotional video showcasing his connection to the Iowa community.

"Playing at Iowa, it honestly feels like the whole state is with you. They got your back," Brecht said. "There's no pro sports teams so Iowa is Iowa. That's who everyone is cheering for."

While there are no MLB teams in the state, Brecht could find himself playing Minor League games in his home state of Iowa in Des Moines (Cubs' Triple-A affiliate), Davenport in the Quad Cities (Royals' High-A) or Cedar Rapids (Twins' High-A)

Highest drafted Iowa pitcher since the '80s?

As Pipeline's No. 21 overall prospect, Brecht has a real shot at going in the first round of the Draft. If he does so, he'd become just the second pitcher in school history to go in the first round, joining Cal Eldred, who was selected 17th overall by the Brewers in 1989.

Even if Brecht slips in the Draft, he'd become just the fourth pitcher in the school's history to be selected within the first 50 picks.

Looking at long-term outcomes for Brecht, there aren't many pitchers -- or hitters -- from Iowa to go on to have successful or long big-league careers. Only two pitchers from the university accumulated double-digit Wins Above Replacement (Baseball Reference's version) in the Majors: Mike Boddicker (31.3 WAR) and Eldred (15.8). The only hitter to reach that mark was Jim Sundberg (40.3), who is easily the best player to hail from the University of Iowa.

This is obviously projecting far into the future, but Brecht has a chance to make his school proud and have a successful big-league career.