Brandon Bielak #64

Last name is pronounced as “bee-lack”...Brandon has one older brother, Chris, who Brandon modeled his pitching mechanics after as a child...Chris, who’s four years older than Brandon, played college baseball (2011-13) at Maris College (NY)...Brandon graduated from St. Joseph HS in Metuchen, N.J. in 2014...led his team to a county championship as a senior, striking out 87 batters with an 0.82 ERA and an 8-1 record...also hit .420 as a senior to earn Middlesex County Player of the Year honors...Went undrafted out of high school due to a strong commitment to the University of Notre Dame, which offered him a full scholarship...went on to pitch three years at Notre Dame, earning ACC All-Freshman honors in 2015 after leading the Fighting Irish in starts (14) and innings (88.2)...followed that up with a strong sophomore year, in which he posted a 2.10 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched...would pitch three full seasons (2015-17) with the Fighting Irish, spending two of those years as a teammate of IF Cavan Biggio (2015-16), the son of Hall of Famer and Astros Special Assistant Craig Biggio...was also teammates with RHP Peter Solomon, who the Astros also picked in the 2017 draft...in Bielak’s three seasons with the Irish, he pitched in 47 games, going 11-11 with a 3.85 ERA...In the summer between his sophomore and junior years, pitched for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod League in 2016, posting a 1.54 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 23.1 innings pitched...After his junior year, was selected by the Astros in the 11th round of the 2017 MLB Draft...signed by Astros scout Nick Venuto...Is signed to a one-year deal for the 2024 season...used his third and final option year in 2023.

2023

Finished his fourth MLB season with a 3.83 ERA (34ER/80IP) with 62 strikeouts...set career-highs in starts (13), innings (80), strikeouts (62) and wins (5)...With Triple A, he went 1-4 with a 5.24 ERA (32ER/55IP) in 13 appearances, including 11 starts...Had three lengthy stints in Houston from May 1-June 18, July 3-31 and a one-day stint on Aug. 24...spent the majority of his Major League time in the club’s rotation, making 13 starts, compared to just two relief appearances...Made his season debut on May 1 vs. SF, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks with six strikeouts in four innings after RHP Luis Garcia exited his start in the first inning due to right elbow discomfort...assumed Garcia’s spot in the rotation after this outing and would make eight consecutive starts before an option...Earned his first win of the season on May 19 vs. OAK, allowed one run on five hits and three walks with a career-high nine strikeouts in five innings...Tossed his first quality start of the season on June 5 at TOR...allowed three runs on 10 hits with one walk and two strikeouts in 6.2 innings...Recorded his best start of his career on July 4 vs. COL...tossed seven scoreless innings, allowed two hits and four walks with four strikeouts...Recorded the Astros longest relief outing of the season on Aug. 24 vs. BOS...allowed three runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5.1 innings.

2022

Third-year reliever pitched in five games for Astros, posting a 3.65 ERA (5ER/12.1IP)...struck out 12 in 12.1 innings...had four different stints in the Majors...Spent the majority of his season at Triple A, where he posted a 3.15 ERA in 23 games and 14 starts...his 3.15 ERA ranked third in the Pacific Coast League (min. 80 IP)...with the Space Cowboys, was dominant as a starter, posting a 1.91 ERA, despite a 2-3 record, and struck out 59 batters in 56.2IP.

2021

Made 28 appearances for the Astros, including two starts...pitched mostly as the club’s long reliever, as he made 13 multi-inning relief appearances...Made the Astros OPENING DAY roster, the first of his career, and totaled four Major League stints on the season (Opening Day-May 29, June 9-July 31, Aug. 30-Sept. 17, Sept. 20-Oct. 2)...His first 26 Major League appearances all came as a reliever...used as a starter in his last two games, both coming in September...Went six straight scoreless appearances from July 23-Sept. 17, tossing 12.2 innings in that span...Posted reverse splits on the season, as he held lefties to a .618 OPS and two extra-base hits in 95 PAs...allowed an .794 OPS vs. righties...Did not make an appearance on an Astros POSTSEASON roster, but did travel with the team the entire run as a member of the Taxi Squad...During his time at Triple A, went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA (4ER/17.1IP) in six games (three starts).

2020

Made his MLB debut, pitching out of the bullpen and starting rotation...went 3-3 with a 6.75 ERA (24ER/32IP) in 12 games (6 starts)...Was selected to the Major League roster on July 27, the fourth day of the regular season...Made his MLB debut on July 27 vs. SEA and earned the win after tossing 3.1 innings of one-run relief...struck out four with no walks and four hits allowed...Became the 17th pitcher in Astros history to record the win in his MLB debut, and the first since Corbin Martin did son on May 12, 2019, vs. TEX...Earned the win in his second career outing, a relief appearance on July 31 at LAA (0ER/2IP)...Became the fifth pitcher in Astros history to get the win in each of his first two MLB appearances, joining Framber Valdez (2018), Bill Dawley (1983), Mark Lemongello (1976) and J.R. Richard (1971)...Made his first career start on Aug. 6 at ARI and threw 5.0 scoreless innings in Houston’s 5-4 loss...Became the first Astros pitcher to toss 5.0+ scoreless innings in his first Major League start since Vince Velasquez on June 10, 2015, at CWS...Improved to 3-0 after holding the Rockies to one run on one hit over 6.0 innings on Aug. 17 vs. COL...Became the first Astros pitcher to begin his career with a three-game winning streak since Josh James went 7-0 to start his career from 2018-19...Over his first five career outings, went 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA (4ER/21.1IP), 11 walks, 15 strikeouts and 13 hits allowed (.178 opponent batting average)...Spent the entire 2020 postseason traveling with the Astros on the taxi squad.

2019

Appeared in 23 games (20 starts) in between Corpus Christi (8g) and Round Rock (15g) with a 4.22 ERA ((57ER/121.2IP) with 119 strikeouts and a 1.22 WHIP...his 121.2 innings pitched marked a career...on June 24 at Iowa, tossed 7.0 one-hit innings with 9 strikeouts and one walk...on July 20 at New Orleans, struck out 7 in 7.0 innings of one-hit ball with 2 walks.

2018

Combined to go 7-8 with a 2.23 ERA (29ER/117IP) and 131 strikeouts as opposed to 39 walks in 25 games (17 starts) between Double A Corpus Christi (11g) and Class A Advanced Buies Creek (14g)...was named a Carolina League Midseason All-Star with Buies Creek...struck out 11 batters and allowed one run on three hits in 6.0 innings on Aug. 23 vs. Midland...rated the No. 14 prospect in the Carolina League.