Born and raised in Detroit, Brown went to grade school, high school and college in his hometown...he grew up a Tigers fan and a fan of Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who he modeled his pitching delivery after...Brown actually met Verlander as a fifth grader at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic School in Saint Clair Shores, Mich., a suburb of Detroit...Verlander and fellow Tiger Carlos Guillén visited the school as part of a radio promotion, won by one of Brown’s classmates...the two became teammates in 2022, sharing a clubhouse together in Spring Training, the regular season and the postseason...Graduated in 2016 from Lakeview HS, which is also in Saint Clair Shores, Mich...hit .438 while posting a 1.54 ERA as a senior...was his team’s offensive MVP as a junior...also lettered in wrestling as a freshman...went undrafted out of high school...After high school, attended Division II Wayne State University, which is also in Detroit...had a breakout junior year in which he went 9-0 with a 2.21 ERA, three shutouts and 114 strikeouts in 85.1 innings...was a D2CCA All-American First Team selection, the ABCA/Rawlings Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year and an ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-American...After his junior year, was selected by the Astros in the fifth round of the June 2019 draft...signed by Astros scout Scott Oberhelman...After being drafted, shot up the Astros prospect lists, ranking as the top prospect in the Astros system entering the 2023 season...Added to the Astros 40-man roster in September of 2022 and was with the Major League club for the entirety of the 2023 season.
2023
The rookie right-hander primarily pitched out of the Astros rotation during the regular season, making 31 appearances (29 starts) and pitching 155.2 innings, which surpassed his career high in innings for a single season...Led AL rookie pitchers in innings, strikeouts and ranked tied for first in wins, while ranking second in strikeouts per 9.0 (10.29) (min 100 IP)…including all AL pitchers, ranked seventh in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (min. 130 IP)…his SO/9 ranked first in a single season by an Astros rookie (min. 140 IP)…Ranked tied for second on the club in wins (11), second in strikeouts (178) and third in innings...His 200 career K’s rank as the fifth-most by an Astros pitcher through their first 38 outings, trailing RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (252), RHP Tom Griffin (225), RHP Bud Norris (212) and RHP Roy Oswalt (205)…His 178 strikeouts this season were the second-most strikeouts in a single season by an Astros rookie...he only trailed RHP Tom Griffin (200 in 1969)…they were also the third-most from an AL rookie since 2000...Ranked third among AL pitchers with a 52.2% ground ball percentage, trailing teammate LHP Framber Valdez (55%) and Red Sox RHP Brayan Bello (56.6%) (min 120 IP)…Showed up during road trips, going 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA (35ER/83IP) and 93 strikeouts in his 16 appearances (14 starts) on the road this season...Started his career 5-0 through his first 12 games (seven starts), a streak which spanned from Sept. 5, 2022 to April 26, 2023...in that stretch, he posted a 2.54 ERA, which ranked second in club history by a pitcher through his first 16 career appearances (min. 70 IP)…Made his first career Opening Day roster...Made back-to-back starts April 9 at MIN and April 15 vs TEX in which he recorded at least 7.0 IP without allowing an ER...the last Astros pitcher to do so was LHP Scott Kazmir, who made two such starts in a row in 2015 (July 24-July 30, 2015)…From May 14-31, he recorded eight-plus K’s in four straight starts...the last Astros rookie to strike out eight-plus batters in four straight starts was RHP Roy Oswalt, who did so in six straight from Aug. 14-Sept. 9 in 2001...Had only two appearances out of the bullpen during the regular season when he threw two scoreless innings on Aug. 15 at MIA and a scoreless ninth inning to secure the AL West title on Oct. 1 at ARI...he has not allowed a run in his 12 of his 14 career appearances out of the bullpen, including his seven postseason outings...Worked twice in the ALDS and the ALCS in the 2023 Postseason, posting a 2.57 ERA (2ER/7IP) with six strikeouts in those appearances.
2022
Astros No. 1 prospect was called up from Triple A on Sept. 1...went 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA (2ER/20.1IP)...Made two starts before being moved to the bullpen when RHP Justin Verlander returned from injury on Sept. 16...in the bullpen, pitched in five games, posting a 0.00 ERA (0ER/8IP) with 11 strikeouts...Was lights out at Minute Maid Park, posting a 0.00 ERA while striking out 12 in 10.1 innings at home... allowed just a .143 batting average off him at home...In five games as a reliever, did not allow a single run, which included 3.0- and 2.1-inning outings on Sept. 19 at TB and Oct. 4 vs. PHI, respectively...Allowed a .100 opponent batting average with RISP, and got out of all four bases-loaded jams he faced...Had an incredible start to his MLB career, winning both of his first two career starts on Sept. 5 vs. TEX (0ER/6IP) and Sept. 13 at DET (2ER/6IP)...on Sept 5 vs. TEX, became the third Astros starter in club history to toss 6.0 scoreless frames in their debut...Per Elias, Brown and the D-backs RHP Ryne Nelson both made their MLB debut on Sept. 6, with Brown tossing 6.0 scoreless and Nelson working 7.0 scoreless This marked the third time in MLB history that two players making their MLB debuts threw 6.0-plus innings without allowing a run on the same day (also, Eric Milton (MIN) and Masato Yoshii (NYM) on April 5, 1998 and Ricky Bones (SD) and Armando Reynoso (ATL) on Aug. 11, 1991...Following the season, named the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year...pitched in 23 games (14 starts) with Triple A Sugar Land, posting a 2.55 ERA...At the time of his selection to the MLB roster, led the Pacific Coast League in ERA (2.55), strikeouts (134) and opponent average (.186), while ranking second in wins (9) and in WHIP (1.08)...earned a couple awards, being named the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May...also named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 23-29...As a reliever at Triple A, was dominant with a 1.34 ERA in 40.1 innings…had 54 strikeouts in 40.1 innings of relief, while holding batters to a .152 average...Was on all three of the Astros Postseason rosters... ended up pitching in three playoff games, allowing no runs over 3.2 innings...allowed two hits and struck out one...pitched 2.0 innings in relief in G3 of ALDS at SEA, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out a batter...the Astros went 3-0 when he pitched.
2021
Played his first full season as a professional in 2021...began the year as an NRI with the Astros, making two relief appearances (2ER/2IP) before being reassigned to minor league camp on March 16...started the regular season at Double-A Corpus Christi before being promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land on July 31...combined to go 6-5 with a 4.04 ERA (45ER/100.1IP) with 131 strikeouts between the two levels.
2020
Did not appear in a game in 2020 due to the pandemic-shortened season.
2019
Spent the entire 2019 season at Class A Short Season Tri-City after getting selected in the fifth round of the 2019 MLB Draft...went 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA (12ER/23.2IP), 18 walks and 33 strikeouts in 12 games (6 starts).
