| Matt Brash | |
|---|---|
| Seattle Mariners – No. 47 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:May 12, 1998 Kingston, Ontario, Canada | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 12, 2022, for the Seattle Mariners | |
| MLB statistics (through 2023 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 13–8 |
| Earned run average | 3.63 |
| Strikeouts | 169 |
| Teams | |
Matthew Aurel Brash (born May 12,1998) is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.
Brash attended Bayridge Secondary School in Kingston,Ontario, [1] where he led the baseball team to two championships. [2] He also played for Ontario in the 2015 Canada Cup. [3] He was not drafted out of high school and attended Niagara University in Lewiston,New York to play college baseball for the Purple Eagles. [4] In three seasons at Niagara,he was 12–7 with a 2.97 ERA in 38 games,27 of them starts. [5] He was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year in 2017,after his freshman season. [2]
Brash was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the fourth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. [6] [7] He had pitched for the Padres at Petco Park prior to the draft. [1] He received a $512,400 signing bonus when he signed with the Padres. [8]
Brash made his professional debut in 2019 pitching one game for the Arizona League Padres,then moving up to the Class-A Fort Wayne TinCaps for four more games before ending his season on July 7,traveling back to the Padres' Arizona facility and resting his pitching arm. [9] He had a combined 1.69 ERA and 8 strikeouts in 5+1⁄3 innings. [10] Brash did not play in 2020 because the Minor League Baseball was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [9]
On September 17, 2020, Brash was traded to the Seattle Mariners as the player to be named later for in a previous trade sending reliever Taylor Williams to the Padres. [11] Brash began the 2021 season with the High-A Everett AquaSox and was promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers in July. [12] On September 2, Brash threw six perfect innings to start a combined no-hitter, finished by relievers Nate Fisher and Dayeison Arias. [13] That capped a stretch of three straight starts with at least 10 strikeouts. [14] For the season, Brash went a combined 6–4 with a 2.31 ERA and 142 strikeouts over 97+1⁄3 innings in 19 starts and 1 relief appearance. [15] [5] On September 28, Seattle selected Brash's contract to the 40-man roster and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time, although he did not make an appearance. [16] [17]
On April 2, 2022, the Mariners announced that Brash would be the team's fifth starter in its Opening Day rotation. [18] He made his MLB debut on April 12, striking out six in 5+1⁄3 innings but allowing the only run in a 1–0 loss to the Chicago White Sox. [19] After five starts with a 7.65 ERA and 17 walks in 20 innings, [20] the Mariners optioned Brash down to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. In the minors, Brash converted to a reliever and lowered his walk rate moderately, pitching in 26 games and earning 3 saves. [5] The Mariners recalled him on July 9 and he became a setup man for the team, earning 9 holds and a 3–1 record in the final three months of the season. Brash was the winning pitcher on September when the Mariners clinched their first postseason appearance since 2001, throwing a scoreless inning against the Oakland Athletics [21] before Cal Raleigh's pinch-hit game-winning home run. [22] [23] Brash pitched three times in the 2022 postseason, getting 4 strikeouts in 3+1⁄3 perfect innings. [24]
Brash started 2023 slowly, blowing 3 saves and picking up two losses in his first 11 games. His performance improved, with only 2 blown saves and two losses the rest of the season. He earned his first MLB save on April 30, pitching a scoreless 10th inning against the Blue Jays. [25] He led the American League by pitching in 78 games in 2023. He had a 9—4 record with 4 saves and a 3.06 ERA, getting 107 strikeouts in 70+2⁄3 innings. [26]
Brash did not pitch for the Mariners in 2024. He began the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation [27] and underwent Tommy John surgery on May 8, ending his season and likely delaying the start of his 2025 season. [28]
Brash is on the roster for the Canadian national baseball team. [29] He pitched once in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, striking out all three Great Britain batters he faced to finish an 18–8 win. [30] [31]