Brooks Pounders

Brooks Casey Pounders (born September 26, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He attended Temecula Valley High School in Temecula, California, and chose not to play baseball in college after he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009. After playing in the minor leagues for several years, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals after the 2011 season. While in the Royals' minor league system, Pounders threw a no-hitter for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in 2013. He made his major league debut with the Royals in 2016, although he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels after the season ended. Pounders spent 2017 alternating between the Angels' major league club and the minor leagues, before becoming a free agent at the end of the season. Before the 2018 season, Pounders signed a contract with the Colorado Rockies and played for both the Rockies and their Triple A-level affiliate. Again a free agent after the 2018 season, Pounders signed with the Cleveland Indians, but never played a major league game with the team. On June 15, he was traded to the New York Mets and immediately became part of the Mets' major league team. He played briefly with the team before being sent back down to the minor league Syracuse Mets. Pounders has not played in the major leagues since, despite briefly being the Tampa Bay Rays system in 2020. He was part of the United States national baseball team in the 2015 and 2019 WBSC Premier 12 tournaments.

Brooks Pounders
Pounders pitching for the Omaha Storm Chasers in 2016
Free agent
Pitcher
Born: (1990-09-26) September 26, 1990
Riverside, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 5, 2016, for the Kansas City Royals
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Win–loss record4–2
Earned run average8.47
Strikeouts47
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
WBSC Premier12
2015 Tokyo Team

Early life

Brooks Casey Pounders was born on September 26, 1990 in Riverside, California[1] to Brad and Mary Pounders. His father, who had been an infielder in Minor League Baseball, wanted to give Pounders the first and middle names Brooks Robinson after the Baltimore Orioles player of the same name. When Pounder's mother objected, a different middle name was provided.[2] Pounders attended Temecula Valley High School in Temecula, where he played baseball. When he was a junior at Temecula Valley, he committed to the University of Southern California (USC) baseball team.[3] In his senior season, Pounders had a 9–2 win-loss record with a 1.96 earned run average (ERA) and 91 strikeouts in ​64 1⁄3 innings pitched.[1] The Pittsburgh Pirates then drafted Pounders in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft, so he did not play for USC.[3]

Career

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates assigned Pounders to the Gulf Coast League Pirates, a rookie-level team.[1] In 2009, he appeared in nine games, starting four of them, pitching in a total of ​23 2⁄3 innings. Over that span, Pounders struck out 20 batters and had a 3.04 ERA and 2–2 win-loss record.[4] The next season, Pounders was assigned to the State College Spikes, a short-season team[1] at the Single A level. In 2010, Pounders pitched in 16 games, four of them starts, with an ERA of 4.46 in ​42 1⁄3 innings. He won three games, lost three, and recorded a save.[4] Pounders spent 2011 pitching for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League. He started only one of the 36 games he appeared in, although he did record a 5–5 win-loss record with three saves. Over 66 innings, he recorded a 3.68 ERA and struck out 72 batters.[4] On December 7, the Pirates traded Pounders and Diego Goris, an infielder, to the Kansas City Royals for Yamaico Navarro, another infielder.[5]

Kansas City Royals

After reporting to the Royals, Pounders was assigned to the Wilmington Blue Rocks, a Class A team.[5] During the 2012 season, he played for both the Blue Rocks and the Kane County Cougars, another Class A team. Between the two teams, Pounders pitched in 28 games and started 23 of them. Over the course of a career-high 134 innings, he won nine games, lost six, and had a 3.96 ERA.[4] He also named the Carolina League pitcher of the week for the week of August 20.[1] In 2013, Pounders played for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, a team in the Double A Texas League.[4] On June 27, he threw a no-hitter for the Naturals against the Midland RockHounds. Only two RockHounds batters reached base against Pounders: one on an error, and one via a hit by pitch. Pounder's no-hitter was the first one thrown by a single Naturals pitcher (not a combined no-hitter) in the team's history.[6] After the no-hitter, he was named Texas League pitcher of the week for the week of July 1.[1] His final line for the season was a 5–7 record with a 4.50 ERA in 116 innings; he also recorded a save.[4]

Pounders underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2013 season, and he was only able to pitch in nine games the next season.[1] These nine games were played for the Blue Rocks and the Idaho Falls Chukars of the rookie-level Pioneer League; he went 0–2 with a 4.40 ERA in ​30 2⁄3 innings for the two teams.[4] Pounders missed the beginning of the 2015 season with a shoulder injury.[1] During the 2015 season, he played four four teams: the Chukars, the rookie-level Arizona League Royals, the Blue Rocks, and the Naturals. Pounders started all 15 games he pitched in, winning three (all with the Naturals) and losing five. Between the four teams, he had a 2.50 ERA over ​68 1⁄3 innings; most of the innings were thrown with the Naturals.[4] After the season, on October 21, 2015, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2015 WBSC Premier 12.[3] Over the course of the tournament, Pounders made six pitching appearances and recorded a save, although his ERA was 6.14 in ​7 1⁄3 innings.[7] He also pitched for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, pitching 12 scoreless innings with one win[4] and the honor of league pitcher of the week for the week of October 24.[1]

Pounders started the 2016 with the Triple A-level Omaha Storm Chasers. With the Storm Chasers, Pounders recorded a 2.80 ERA over ​64 1⁄3 innings before being called up to the major leagues by the Royals after Wade Davis was put on the disabled list with a forearm injury[2] on July 5.[8] That same day, Pounders made his major league debut[9] in a 3–8 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Pounders pitched two innings, giving up one run and striking out three batters.[10] Two days later, Pounders got the win in a game against the Seattle Mariners for his first major league win.[9] On July 10, Pounders made his third major league appearance, again against the Mariners. In that game, he gave up five runs in the seventh inning.[11] Pounders returned to Omaha on July 16,[1] but was brought up on July 28 when Luke Hochevar went on the disabled list with symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome.[9]

Pounders next pitched for the Royals on July 30, against the Texas Rangers; he gave up one run while only recording two outs in the ninth inning, taking his first major league loss.[11] He was then returned to Omaha again on August 3, but was recalled to Kansas City on the 31st.[1] Pounders appeared in nine more games for the Royals over the course of the season, including picking up his second major league win against the Minnesota Twins on September 27.[11] Over the course of the 2016 season, he had with a 9.24 ERA in ​12 2⁄3 innings pitched for Kansas City, and a 3.14 ERA in ​80 1⁄3 innings for Omaha.[4][12] Due to his early-season efforts with the Storm Chasers, he was named to the Pacific Coast League Mid-Season All-Star Team.[1]

Los Angeles Angels

On December 1,[1] the Royals traded Pounders to the Los Angeles Angels for minor-league pitcher Jared Ruxer.[13] Over the course of the 2017 season, Pounders bounced between the Angels and the Triple A Salt Lake Bees.[1] He made his Angels debut on April 23 against the Blue Jays; two days later he received the win in a game against the Oakland Athletics. At the major league level, Pounders pitched in three games in April, two in May, four in June, and two in July.[14] He finished the season with a 10.45 ERA and 1–0 record for the Angels,[12] and a 2–2 record with a 2.63 ERA in 38 games (two starts) for the Bees.[4] He elected to become a free agent on November 6.[1]

Later career

On December 5, Pounders signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies; he was sent to the Triple A Albuquerque Isotopes on January 28, 2018.[1] He was then called back up the major leagues by the Rockies on April 24; he had recorded 3.60 ERA in seven games with the Isotopes prior to the call-up.[15] That day, Pounders threw a scoreless ninth inning against the San Diego Padres. Four days later, he pitched a scoreless eighth against the Miami Marlins. During the month of May, Pounders made six pitching appearances, including pitching a season-high three innings against the San Francisco Giants on May 19. On June 1, he blew a save and took the loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers by allowing four runs without recording an out in the sixth inning. He made five more appearances that month, all in games decided by five or more runs,[16] before being returned to the Isotopes on June 27.[1] During his tenure with the Rockies, Pounders had an 0–1 record with a 7.63 ERA in ​15 1⁄3 innings.[12] He appeared in 26 games with the Isotopes, recording a 2–3 record and a 3.48 ERA.[4] He elected free agency on October 9, 2018.[1]

On December 22, 2018, Pounders signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians.[1] The deal included an invitation to the Indians' 2019 major league spring training camp.[17] While in the Indians organization, Pounders was assigned to the Columbus Clippers of the Triple A International League for the 2019 season. With the Clippers, Pounders appeared in 24 games, all in relief, with a 2–1 record and a 2.31 ERA.[4]

On June 15,[1] the Indians traded Pounders to the New York Mets for cash considerations. The Mets, who had a bad bullpen, promoted Pounders from Triple A to their major league team.[18] He made his first appearance with the Mets the next day, pitching a scoreless ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. On June 21, Pounders picked up the win against the Chicago Cubs by throwing ​1 1⁄3 scoreless innings. In total, he appeared in seven games for the Mets, all in the month of June. All of Pounders' outings were scoreless, except for one against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 24, in which he allowed five runs while only recording five outs.[19] On July 2, the Mets sent Pounders down to the Triple A Syracuse Mets. He was then designated for assignment on August 20 and outrighted back to Syracuse three days later.[1] While with the major-league Mets, he had an ERA of 6.14 (his lowest in a major league season), and a 1–0 record; with Syracuse, he had a 1–2 record in 19 games, along with a 7.59 ERA.[4]

After the end of the 2019 season, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.[3] Pounders appeared in two games for the team, throwing two scoreless innings.[20] On February 15, 2020,[1] the Tampa Bay Rays signed Pounders to a minor league contract.[21] Later that month, he was sent to the Triple A Durham Bulls; the Bulls later released him on May 27.[1] Pounders both batted and threw right-handed during his career. Over the course of his time in the major leagues, he appeared in 45 games and pitched ​45 2⁄3 innings; he also had 4–2 record, a 8.47 career ERA, and 47 strikeouts. Pounders never had a plate appearance as a batter in the majors.[12]

References
  1. "Brooks Pounders Stats, Fantasy, and Bio". Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  2. Dodd, Rustin (July 8, 2016). "The Story Behind the Name of Royals Reliever Brooks Pounders". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  3. Raineri, JP (November 10, 2019). "USA Baseball Premier 12 Roster includes former Golden Bear and MLB Pitcher, Brooks Pounders". Valley News. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  4. "Brooks Pounders Minor League Stats". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  5. "Royals Acquire Minor Leaguers Pounders and Goris from Pirates for Navarro". Major League Baseball. December 7, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  6. Breece, Chris (June 27, 2013). "Brooks Pounders Throws No-Hitter for Naturals". CBS 5 News. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  7. "Premier 12 2015 Team USA Pitching Stats". WBSC.org. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  8. "Wade Davis Stats, Fantasy, and Bio". Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  9. "Royals Place Hochevar on DL, Recall Pounders from Omaha". Fox Sports. July 28, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  10. "Royals vs. Blue Jays Box Score July 5, 2016". Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  11. "Brooks Pounders 2016 Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  12. "Brooks Pounders Stats". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  13. Flanagan, Jeffrey. "Royals Swap Pounders for Minor League Pitcher". Los Angeles Angels. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  14. "Brooks Pounders 2017 Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  15. "Rockies Select Contract of Right-Hander Brooks Pounders". Associated Press. April 24, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  16. "Brooks Pounders 2018 Pitching Logs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  17. Hoynes, Paul (December 22, 2018). "Cleveland Indians Bring OF Brandon Barnes, RHP Brooks Pounders to Camp on Minor-League Deals". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  18. Fitzpatrick, Mike (June 15, 2019). "Mets Shuffle Leaky Bullpen, Sign 1st-Round Pick". Associated Press. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  19. "Brooks Pounders 2019 Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  20. "WSBC Premier 12 2019 Team USA Stats". WBSC.org. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  21. "Pounders, McGuire Agree to Minor League Deals with Rays". Associated Press. February 14, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
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