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, MI, 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...at the onset of last season, ranked third in the system behind SS Jeremy Peña and C Korey Lee...Works primarily with his 96.6 mph fastball and a curveball, but also mixes in a very hard slider that averaged 93.2 mph in 2022...that registered as the hardest slider in the Majors last season, just above Jacob deGrom’s (92.6) and Emmanuel Clase’s (91.9) on the Major League leaderboard...Added to the Astros 40-man roster in September of 2022 and appeared on all three of the Astros postseason rosters...enters the 2023 season still qualifying as a rookie.
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).
