Brock Stewart #61

Brock Allen Stewart...X: @Brock\_A\_Stewart...Instagram: @brockstew15...Graduated from Normal West (IL) High School where he was an All-Conference and All-State selection as senior...Set a school record with a .506 average as a junior...Father, Jeff, is a former baseball coach at Illinois State and used to be a pro scout for Tampa Bay (is retired)...Brother, Luke, played baseball at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and played two seasons in the New York-NL system (2011-12)...Brother, Jake, played baseball at Illinois State and the University of Illinois...Played four years of college ball at Illinois State, where he pitched and also played infield during his career...Made just 12 pitching appearances in college (one start), appearing in one game as a sophomore and 11 (one start) as a senior, going 3-2 with a 2.36 ERA and limiting opponents to a .198 batting average...Combined to hit .266 with 11 homers and 82 RBI in 123 collegiate games...Favorite number is 15, which is the number he wore in college; 61 was issued to him when he was a Spring Training invite to Twins camp in 2023...Is a Chicago Bears fan and Georgia Bulldogs football fan.

2023

Was an invite to Twins Spring Training after signing a Minor League contract in July of 2022...Reassigned to Minor League camp on March 22 and began season with Triple-A St. Paul...Appeared in seven games for Saints from April 1-23, striking out 17 batters with two walks in 8.2 innings pitched, while earning two saves...Had contract selected by Minnesota on April 25 (Trevor Megill DFA)...Earned win in Twins debut on April 27 vs. Kansas City, pitching 2.0 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, no walks and three strikeouts...Struck out 100th career batter on May 23 vs. San Francisco, fanning LaMonte Wade Jr...Pitched 14.0 scoreless innings to begin Twins career, from April 27-May 27; 14 games was third-longest scoreless game streak to start Twins career, trailing Caleb Thielbar (17 in 2013) and Dennys Reyes (16 in 2008)...First runs allowed of season came from Jose Altuve grand slam on May 29 at Houston (two inherited runners and two of his runners)...Became one of Twins primary set-up men, recording seven holds in a 20-game stretch from May 10-June 25...Recorded second career save on May 27 vs. Toronto, pitching 1.0 scoreless inning, relieving Jorge López, who did not record an out to start the ninth...Was his first save since June 20, 2017 vs. New York-NL (with Los Angeles-NL)...Hit a career-high 99.7 mph on a strikeout pitch to Brandon Belt, fastest pitch recorded in career...Placed on 15-day injured list on June 27 with right elbow soreness...Pitched in three games with Triple-A St. Paul on rehab assignment in Sept.; reinstated on Sept. 26...Made return to Major League mound for first time in just over three months on Sept. 26 vs. Oakland, pitching 1.0 scoreless inning with one hit allowed, no walks and two strikeouts...Held opponents scoreless in 26 of 27 appearances for Twins on season, lone blemish being aforementioned Altuve homer on May 29...Finished season with 13-straight scoreless outings (12.2 IP) from May 31-Oct. 1, striking out 22 batters without issuing a walk...Twins went 21-7 in games in which he appeared, including winning nine of his last 10...Struck out at least one batter in 23 of 28 games and multiple batters in 11 games...Set career-high in strikeout percentage (35.8%)...Limited left-handed hitters to a .184 (7-for-38) batting average with four walks and 17 strikeouts...Right-handed hitters batted .203 (12- for-59) with seven walks and 22 strikeouts...Allowed just one home run on season (Altuve - May 29 at HOU), one of just eight pitchers in baseball (minimum of 25.0 IP) to allow less than two home runs...Finished season with a 0.65 ERA (27.2 IP, 2 ER), the lowest in Twins history (1961-) among pitchers with at least 25 appearances...His 12.69 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings ratio was the fourth-best single-season ratio in club history...Led baseball in ERA among all pitchers with a minimum of 25.0 innings pitched...In fact, was the only pitcher in baseball with an ERA under 1.00 with those criteria...Ranked in the 93rd percentile in baseball in average fastball velocity (97.2 mph)...Ranked in the 99th percentile in fastball spin (2,604 rpm)...Posted opponent batting averages of .233 (7-for-30) on fastball, .194 (6-for-31) on sweeper, .071 (1-for-14) on cutter, .167 (2-for-12) on sinker and .300 (3-for-10) on changeup.

2022

Signed minor league contract with Minnesota on July 14 after spending first half of season recovering from Tommy John surgery on right elbow in May 2021....Began season with FCL Twins and made first appearance Aug. 23....Transferred to High-A Fort Myers on Aug. 26 where he made three appearances for the Mighty Mussels from Aug. 26-Sept. 2...Transferred to Triple-A St. Paul on Sept. 5 where he spent rest of season....Made seven appearances for Saints in September going 0-1, 6.14 ERA (7.1 IP, 5 ER) with one walk and 11 strikeouts...each of final four appearances were scoreless (4.0 IP).

2021

Signed minor league contract with Los Angeles-NL but did not pitch after having Tommy John surgery performed on right elbow...became free agent in Nov.

2020

Selected by Chicago-NL in minor league phase of Rule 5 Draft Dec. 12, 2019...released by Cubs organization May 28 and did not pitch in affiliated baseball in season due to shortened major league season and cancellation of minor league season (COVID-19).

2019

Brock appeared in 13 major league contests between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, going 4-0 with a 9.82 ERA (28 ER/25.2 IP) ... was claimed off waivers by Toronto, July 31 ... Pitched a career-high 5.1 innings in relief, August 12 vs. Texas ... allowed three runs on five hits ... earned the win in Toronto's 19-4 triumph ... Went 3-0 with a 3.14 ERA (5 ER/14.1 IP) in his first three outings with the Blue Jays from August 7-24 ... Appeared in 19 games between Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Dodgers system and Triple-A Buffalo in the Blue Jays organization ... went 6-8 with a 7.36 ERA (69 ER/84.1 IP). 

2018

Appeared in nine games (two starts) in the Majors for the Dodgers, going 0-1 with a 6.11 ERA (12 ER/17.2 IP) and striking out 14 batters against nine walks ... Spent the remainder of the season with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers making 19 starts with an ERA of 2.99 (32 ER/96.1 IP)… struck out 80 batters against 29 walks while holding hitters to a .232 average ... Was very effective against left-handed batters, holding them to a .184 average in 19 games with Oklahoma City ... Ended the season on the 40-man roster after landing on the 60-day DL with a right oblique strain.

2017

Appeared in 17 games (four starts) over five stints with the Dodgers, collecting one save, posting a 3.41 ERA (13 ER/34.1 IP) and striking out 29 batters against 19 walks in 34.1 innings ... Held hitters to a .226 average and has been effective against hitters from both sides of the plate, limiting righties to a .217 mark and holding lefties to a .236 average ... As a starter he posted a 5.27 ERA (8 ER/13.2 IP) in four starts, while recording a save and posting a 2.18 ERA (5 ER/20.2 IP) in 13 relief appearances ... Picked up his first big league save on June 20 against New York (NL), pitching 3.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and a walk ... Made a combined six starts with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 0-2 with a 4.08 ERA (8 ER/17.2 IP) and struck out 26 batters against four walks in 17.2 innings ... Started the season on the 10-day disabled list (March 30) with right shoulder tendinitis and was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 29…reinstated from the DL on June 7.

2016

Saw his first big league action in five stints with Los Angeles, going 2-2 with a 5.79 ERA (18 ER/28.0 IP), and became the first Dodger since Hideo Nomo in 1995 to begin the year in Single-A and start in a Major League game in the same season...Took the loss in his MLB debut on June 29 at Milwaukee, allowing five runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings, while striking out seven batters in a 7-0 Dodger defeat...Recorded his first big league victory on Sept. 7 against Arizona, allowing just one run on five hits in 5.0 innings of work...Named the Dodgers' Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year and to Baseball America's Minor League All-Star Team after combining to go 9-4 with a 1.79 ERA, a .200 opponents' batting average and a 0.88 WHIP in 21 starts at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City...In the minors, struck out 129 batters against just 19 walks in a combined 121.0 innings, averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings and posting a 6.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio...In all of minor league baseball, ranked among all qualifying pitchers in WHIP (4th), ERA (6th) and opponents' batting average (15th)...Opened the season with Rancho Cucamonga (two starts) and was named California League Pitcher of the Week for the period ending April 17…promoted to Tulsa on April 15 (10 starts) and was selected to the Texas League mid-season All-Star team, but did not participate in the game due to his promotion to Oklahoma City on June 10…made nine starts for the OKC Dodgers.

2015

Split time between Single-A Great Lakes and Single-A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, combining to go 4-6 with a 4.46 ERA in 25 games (19 starts)…struck out 103 batters against just 24 walks in a combined 101.0 innings.

2014

In his first professional season, he appeared in 17 games (one start) with Rookie-advanced Ogden, going 3-2 with a 3.41 ERA (13 ER/34.1 IP)…struck out 45 against 17 walks in 34.1 innings.