Aaron Brown Stats & Scouting Report

IP	339
ERA	4.035
WHIP	1.501
BB/9	5.097
SO/9	8.947

Full name Aaron Joshua Brown
Born 06/20/1992 in West Hills, CA
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 223 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Pepperdine
Drafted in the 3rd round (81st overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014 (signed for $750,000).

View Draft Report

Coming out of Chatsworth (Calif.) High, Brown drew legitimate interest from scouts as an outfielder as well as a pitcher. He ranked as BA's No. 149 prospect for the 2011 draft, when the Pirates drafted him in the 17th round and made a run at signing him. He elected to go to Pepperdine, where nagging injuries kept him from making the leap to stardom over his first two years. He has made that leap as a junior, going 9-1, 2.34 off the mound and hitting .331/.370/.579 with nine homers through 12 weeks. Scouts widely agree that he is a top-four-rounds talent as both a pitcher and an outfielder, and they are divided about where he fits best. Off the mound, he is physical, athletic and aggressive and attacks hitters with an 89-91 mph fastball that bumps 92-93. His ability to throw quality strikes with his fastball has improved, and his 82-85 mph slider has become a plus pitch with good depth, generating swing-throughs against righties and lefties. He mixes in a changeup that has a chance to be an average pitch and gives him a chance to start, though some scouts still see him as a better fit in the bullpen because of his fair command. If a club drafts Brown as a position player, he has the plus raw power and solid arm strength to profile in right field, though he plays center for the Waves this spring. The biggest knock on Brown's bat is his tendency to swing and miss, as evidenced by his 36-7 strikeout-walk mark through 178 at-bats. He has a double toe-tap that throws off his timing and makes him vulnerable against offspeed pitches, but he is a good fastball hitter.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Drafted twice before--by the Pirates out of high school and by the Indians as a draft-eligible sophomore-- Brown signed in 2014 for $750,000 with the Phillies, after leading Pepperdine to a super regional. After reaching low Class A Lakewood in 2014, he advanced to high Class A Clearwater in 2015, where he showed the tools that the Phillies coveted so highly in the draft. The lefthanded-hitting Brown smacked 11 home runs in 110 games and actually ranked fifth with a .149 isolated slugging percentage in the power-depleted Florida State League. Evaluators see a strong-bodied outfielder who would benefit from a more refined hitting approach. He has solid power, but he tends to fall in love with it and gets out of whack as a result. The Phillies would like to see him trade a pull-first attitude for a more all-fields approach. Brown played all three outfield positions at Clearwater but profiles best in right field because of his strong throwing arm. He will move up to Double-A Reading in 2016.
Drafted by the Pirates in 2011 and Indians in 2013, Brown intrigued scouts both as an outfielder and a lefthanded pitcher at Pepperdine. He throws in the low 90s off the mound and finished with the second-best ERA in the West Coast Conference in 2014, spinning seven innings in the super regional to deal Texas Christian its only loss. He signed as the Phillies' third-rounder for $750,000. The Phillies liked Brown more as an outfielder, and he could take off offensively now that pitching is in his past. He earns high marks for his work ethic, physicality, intensity and, most importantly, his well-balanced set of tools. He starts his swing with a double toe-tap of his front foot, and his stroke itself is smooth and shows the potential for above-average power due to both strength and good bat speed. Evaluators who caught Brown after he turned pro said that he must smooth out his stike-zone judgment and cover some holes, noting he was prone both to swinging through pitches in the strike zone and looking vulnerable on breaking balls off the plate. He's an above-average runner with an above-average arm and average range in right field. Brown fits the right-field profile if he reaches his ceiling, though he also can handle center in short looks. He could potentially begin 2015 at high Class A Clearwater.

Draft Prospects

Coming out of Chatsworth (Calif.) High, Brown drew legitimate interest from scouts as an outfielder as well as a pitcher. He ranked as BA's No. 149 prospect for the 2011 draft, when the Pirates drafted him in the 17th round and made a run at signing him. He elected to go to Pepperdine, where nagging injuries kept him from making the leap to stardom over his first two years. He has made that leap as a junior, going 9-1, 2.34 off the mound and hitting .331/.370/.579 with nine homers through 12 weeks. Scouts widely agree that he is a top-four-rounds talent as both a pitcher and an outfielder, and they are divided about where he fits best. Off the mound, he is physical, athletic and aggressive and attacks hitters with an 89-91 mph fastball that bumps 92-93. His ability to throw quality strikes with his fastball has improved, and his 82-85 mph slider has become a plus pitch with good depth, generating swing-throughs against righties and lefties. He mixes in a changeup that has a chance to be an average pitch and gives him a chance to start, though some scouts still see him as a better fit in the bullpen because of his fair command. If a club drafts Brown as a position player, he has the plus raw power and solid arm strength to profile in right field, though he plays center for the Waves this spring. The biggest knock on Brown's bat is his tendency to swing and miss, as evidenced by his 36-7 strikeout-walk mark through 178 at-bats. He has a double toe-tap that throws off his timing and makes him vulnerable against offspeed pitches, but he is a good fastball hitter.
Brown was BA's No. 149 prospect for the 2011 draft after a standout career at Chatsworth (Calif.) High, when more scouts preferred him as an outfielder. The Pirates took a shot at him as a 17th-round pick but he followed through on his commitment to Pepperdine, where he has established himself as a better prospect on the mound. A broken hamate bone in his right hand slowed Brown early this spring, and he showed his toughness by returning to action even though squeezing his glove caused him pain. He has a durable 6-foot-1, 222-pound frame and loads of athleticism. At his best, he flashes four above-average pitches, but all of them are inconsistent. His fastball ranges from 88-94 mph, and he tends to get stronger as the game goes on. He improved his direction to the plate as the season progressed, helping him locate his fastball to both sides of the plate, though he sometimes gets out of rhythm. His out pitch is a slider with tilt and bite, and he usually incorporates a changeup in the middle innings. His curveball is fringy. Brown needs to fine-tune his command in order to stick as a starter, and some scouts think his muscle-bound frame and aggressiveness would fit better in the bullpen. He's a draft-eligible sophomore.

Minor League Top Prospects

Brown ranked among BA's top 200 prospects for the 2012 draft out of high school, then in the top 100 as a two-way player at Pepperdine as an eligible sophomore and again as a junior this spring, when he earned second-team All-America honors. He drew legitimate top-three-rounds interest as both a pitcher and hitter in college, but the Phillies drafted him as an outfielder. Brown is farther away from his ceiling as a hitter, because he struck out far more than he walked in the spring and the summer, but he also has more upside as a position player if he can develop a more disciplined approach and improve his contact rate. Brown has plus raw power and can drive the ball over the fence from left-center to the right-field line. A double toe-tap negatively impacted his timing in college, leading to his swing-and-miss tendencies. He must improve against offspeed pitches, but he can hammer fastballs. Brown is a solid-average or slightly better runner who handled center field ably at Williamsport, but he profiles better in right, where his plus arm will be an asset.