Brent Lee Honeywell Jr. was originally signed by Rays scout Brian Hickman…graduated from Franklin County High School in Royston, Ga…is the second Major Leaguer from his high school with the other being Ty Cobb…was selected by the Rays following his freshman season at Walters State CC (Tenn.)…went 11-3 with a 2.81 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 83.1 innings, earning second team NJCAA All-American honors…his father, Brent Sr., played for three seasons in the Pirates minor league system…Brent Sr. pitched for Saint Leo University under coach Mike Marshall, who won the NL Cy Young Award as a reliever with the Dodgers in 1974…his father learned how to throw a screwball from Marshall and passed it on to Brent.
2021
Made his Major League debut with Tampa Bay after missing the previous three seasons due to four surgeries on his elbow, beginning with “Tommy John” surgery on Feb. 27, 2018...Went 0-0 with an 8.31 ERA and .278 opponents batting average in three games, including two starts, over three stints in April and May…struck out four and walked three in 4.1 innings...Spent the balance of the season at Triple-A Durham where he was 5-4 with two saves, a 3.97 ERA and .241 opponents batting average in 31 games, including 13 starts...The saves were the first of his career and the games pitched were a career high as he had just one relief appearance over his first four professional seasons…had a career high .417 opponents slugging percentage and .718 OPS...His opponents batting average broke down to .226 (28-for-124) with a .650 OPS against lefthanded hitters compared to .251 (46-for-183) with a .765 OPS against right-handers...Allowed a .307 average with runners in scoring position…nine of the 13 home runs he surrendered were solo shots...Was 4-3 with a 3.90 ERA in his 13 starts, 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 18 relief appearances…his first Triple-A appearance was a start and he then made 18 consecutive relief appearances from May 18-July 16 before starting each of his final 12 contests...Stranded his only inherited runner…first batters faced were 3-for-17 (.176) with a walk...Did not allow a run in the fifth (8.2 ip) or eighth (2.0 ip) innings...Yielded a .179 opponents average with two strikes and a .167 mark against the opponents number two hitter...Tossed two innings or fewer in each of his first 19 appearances and three innings or more in each of his final 12 games, all starts...Was recalled for the first time on April 11 and made his debut with a start that day against New York…retired all six batters that he faced and had a no decision in the Rays 8-4 loss (2.0 ip, 2 so)…fanned Giancarlo Stanton to lead off the second inning for his first career strikeout…it was his first appearance in a regular season or postseason game since the Triple-A National Championship Game on Sept. 19, 2017 vs. Memphis, going 1,299 days and four elbow surgeries in between…was optioned back to the Rays alternate site following the game but returned on April 20…pitched in relief on April 20 at Kansas City (1.1 ip, 2 h, 1 r, 1 er, 2 bb) and made another start on April 24 against Toronto (1.0 ip, 3 h, 3 r, 3 er, 1 bb, 2 so) before he was optioned following the start…made two scoreless appearances for Durham (3.0 ip, 3 so, 1 hb) and was recalled for a third time May 21…did not pitch before he was optioned to Durham on May 22…spent the remainder of the season with the Bulls…did not allow a run in five games in May (7.0 ip, 1 h, 1 bb, 8 so)…then posted a 2.61 ERA and .175 opponents batting average in eight relief appearances in June…recorded the first two saves of his career in consecutive outings at Norfolk on June 18 (1.0 ip, 1 h, 1 r, 1 er, 1 bb, 1 so) and at Jacksonville on June 22 (1.0 ip, 2 bb)…his only outing under an inning came on July 16 vs. Jacksonville when he allowed a season-high five runs on five hits and a walk while retiring just one batter… that was his final relief appearance of the season as he moved into the starting rotation for good on July 21…walked three batters on July 28 at Norfolk, one of two outings with more than two walks…also walked three on Sept. 25 vs. Gwinnett…finished July with a 6.92 ERA in eight games (two starts) and then went 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in six starts in August…yielded a season-high eight hits Aug. 13 at Gwinnett…won three consecutive starts from Aug. 19-31 (1.59 ERA, .186 opponent batting average)…tossed a season-high 6.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit on Aug. 25 at Charlotte…also logged 6.0 innings in his next start on Aug. 31 at Jacksonville and again at Charlotte on Sept. 18 when he surrendered a season-high tying eight hits, including a career-high tying three home runs…struck out a season-high seven batters on the 31st at Jacksonville…matched his season high by allowing five runs in a 5-1 loss at Jacksonville on Sept. 5…threw a season-high 87 pitches in 4.1 innings on Sept. 11 against Norfolk.
2020
Underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve on May 20 in Los Angeles, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache…Dr. ElAttrache and Dr. Steven Shin removed scar tissue from the area of the nerve...Added to the Rays 60-man player pool on Aug 27 and spent the summer at the alternate training site in Port Charlotte…was also part of the Rays 40-man player pool for the postseason...Underwent right elbow arthroscopic surgery on Dec 16, performed by Dr. ElAttrache…the minor procedure was done to relieve mild discomfort and is not expected to impact his 2021 season...Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 17 prospect in the Rays system following the season.
2019
Suffered a fracture of the right medial epicondyle (inside of the elbow) on June 8 while throwing a bullpen session in Port Charlotte… the next day, underwent surgery to repair the fracture, performed by Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla. …his UCL was not damaged... Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 80 overall prospect in the minors following the season… was the No. 6 prospect in the Rays system… the publication also tabbed him as having the Best Changeup in the organization for a second consecutive year.
2018
Exited a live batting practice session in spring training with right forearm tightness, later diagnosed as a torn ulnar collateral ligament…underwent Tommy John surgery on Feb 27, performed by Dr. James Andrews...Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 23 overall prospect in the minors following the season… was the No. 2 prospect in the Rays system.
2017
Went 13-9 with a 3.49 ERA (136.2- IP, 53-ER) in 26 starts between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham, earning an April 16 promotion...Tied for 5th in the minors and led Rays minor leaguers with a career-high 172 SO, the most in the Rays system since Matt Moore (210) in 2011… tied for 2nd among Rays minor leaguers in wins, one shy of José Mujica (14)…ranked 9th in ERA...Led International League starters with a 11.06 SO/9 IP ratio…according to FanGraphs, generated swings-and-misses on 14.3 pct. of his pitches, highest in the league…ranked 2nd in the IL with 152 SO, behind teammate Ryan Yarbrough, and tied for 3rd with 12 wins...Was the starting pitcher for the U.S. team in the Futures Game in July at Marlins Park… became the first pitcher in the 19-year history of the game to win the Larry Doby Award as the game’s Most Valuable Player...Went 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA (12.1-IP, 3-ER) in 2 starts in the IL postseason…got no decision in the Bulls series-clinching win in Game 4 of the IL Semifinals at Indianapolis (Pirates)…recorded 10 SO and did not allow a run over 6 IP of Game 3 in the Governors’ Cup...Pitched out of the bullpen in the Bulls win over Memphis (Cardinals) in the Triple-A National Championship Game…did not allow a run in 2.2 IP before giving way to closer Diego Castillo...Named to the Rays Organizational All-Star Team by MLB.com...Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 14 overall prospect in the minors following the season… was the No. 1 prospect in the Rays system…the publication also tabbed him as having the Best Changeup in the IL in its Best Tools survey.
