McCade Brown

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #118 prospect in 2021 draft
  Brown was close to the definition of an effectively wild pitcher this spring, as he walked three or more batters in nine of his 12 starts, but also allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of those starts. In total, he posted a 3.39 ERA over 61 innings while striking out 97 batters (14.3 K/9) and walking 43 (6.3 BB/9). Unsurprisingly, Brown has extremely impressive pure stuff, but very little feel to put it over the plate. His fastball sits in the 90-94 mph range and has been up to 97 this spring. He throws two breaking balls, one a spike-grip curveball with good depth in the upper 70s and low 80s, and a firmer slider in the lower 80s that has more horizontal life. The curve looks like a good chase pitch that he can bury below the zone, while the slider might be better to keep hitters off of his fastball. Brown has also thrown a firm, upper-80s changeup but hardly ever uses the pitch—instead opting for his fastball and breaking stuff. Brown throws from a three-quarter slot with some hooking action in the back of his arm action and has an early hand-glove separation/glove pat in his leg pump. He’s on the younger side for a college player in the class, but given his below-average control, comes with massive reliever risk.