CBN Player of the Week, Week XI - Matt Brash
Kingston Thunder grad RHP Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) had two saves to earn Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week honours.
June 21, 2022
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
Most major leaguers are demoted at the start of their careers.
Your name could be Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay or Tim Raines and after being in the majors you could still find yourself riding the buses.
Once there, adjustments have to be made. The first one is to get rid of the common ailment known as “big-league head,” where every moment is spent pondering, “How am I supposed to play in front of 5,000 when I was just played before 50,000?”
Point is, you have to throw strikes, you have to hit line drives and compete in front of 5,000 or 500 (a typical Dunedin crowd) to get back to playing in front of 50,000.
From the numbers, Matt Brash didn’t sulk or hang his head after being demoted by the Seattle Mariners and converted from a starter to a reliever. And this week he had three scoreless outings, picking up a pair of saves for the Tacoma Rainiers. The three outings earned Brash (Kingston, Ont.) Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week for Week XI, the best of the 134 Canucks in the minors.
How the week that was went for Brash as he ...
_ Came on to pitch the ninth in a 3-1 Tacoma win over the Sacramento River Cats before 4,030 fans at Chenley Stadium. He allowed a lead-off single to right, then struck out the Cats’ fifth place hitter, a pop up to shortstop and a game-ending whiff for his first save. He was 9-for-12 throwing strikes.
_ Two days later he entered in the ninth with a 6-5 lead over Sacramento in front of 3,408 fans. He struck out the first two hitters and ended the game inducing the No. 3 hitter to bounce out to short. He threw 13 pitches (nine for strikes).
_ And three days later, he was on the mound pitching the eighth inning in a 12-1 defeat against Sacramento in front of 6,926 fans. Brash struck out the first two hitters he faced, then a fielding error by the shortstop put a man on first. Back-to-back singles produced an unearned run before Brash struck out the third Cats hitter. He threw 34 pitches (20 strikes).
Best Offense
Player/Classification/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Liam Hicks Rkie ACL Rangers 13 4 8 1 8 .615
Charles Leblanc AAA Jacksonville 25 7 10 1 2 .400
Andy Yerzy AA Amarillo 11 1 4 - 1 .364
Adam Hall AA Bowie 14 3 5 1 5 .357
Jared Young AAA Iowa 20 6 7 - 3 .350
Owen Caissie A South Bend 18 4 6 - 3 .333
David Calabrese A Inland Empire 26 5 8 - 6 .308
Tanner Kirwer AA Arkansas 20 5 6 - 1 .300
Raphael Gladu IND Trois-Rivieres 19 8 8 1 5 .421
L.P. Pelletier IND Trois Rivieres 25 8 9 2 5 .360
Miles Gordon IND Evansville 22 9 7 4 6 .318
David Glaude IND Quebec 27 3 8 1 4 .296
(Minimum 10 ABs)
Best Pitching
Matt Brash RHP - AAA Tacoma Rainiers
Games W SV ER ERA H IP K WHIP
3 - 2 - 0.00 3 3.0 7 1.000
The Seattle Mariners invited Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) to spring training camp, and the 23-year-old performed well enough, that he was included on the team’s Opening Day roster. Quite an accomplishment by a young prospect, beginning only his third season as a pro.
He made his big-league debut on April 12 against the Chicago White Sox, and eventually appeared in five games before he was moved to Tacoma Rainiers, Seattle’s triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. He has since become an important part of Tacoma’s bullpen success, and this past week he made three more excellent relief appearances.
On June 14, in a 3-1 win over the Sacramento River Cats, he pitched one scoreless inning, allowing one base hit while striking out two Sacramento hitters, to secure his first save of the season. Two days later, on June 16, in a 6-5 victory, he threw a scoreless, hitless inning, while striking out two for his second consecutive save. On June 19, he made a third appearance in Week XI which was a 12-1 loss to the River Cats, and again he pitched one inning, gave up two base hits and an unearned run while striking out three hitters, but was not involved in the decision. His overall record for Tacoma in 16 Pacific Coast League games, now stands at 0-0, with two saves and a 3.15 ERA. It’s worth mentioning that in 20 innings, Brash has 35 strikeouts.
Minor League Player of the Week
Week I - INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) Marlins
Week II _ OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) A’s
Week III _ OF Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) Brewers
Week IV _ RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont,) Braves
Week V _ RHP Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, BC), Braves
Week VI _ OF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) Cubs
Week VII _ C Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) Guardians
Weej VIII _ RHP Noah Skirrow (Stoney Creek, Ont.) Phillies.
Week IX _ OF Tanner Kirwer (Spruce Grove, Alta.) Mariners