American League Rookie of the Year: Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
Speaking of Justin Verlander, Hunter Brown has grown up emulating the hard throwing righty his entire life. He hopes to add American League Rookie of the Year to the similarities at the end of the season (JV won the award in 2006).
Drafted in the fifth round in 2019 out of Wayne State University (Detroit, Mich.), Brown has proven himself every step of the way to the big leagues. He had a superb 2022 season for the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys culminated with a cup of coffee with the Houston Astros.
For Sugar Land, Brown pitched 106 innings, struck out 134, walked 45, had an ERA of 2.55, and a 1.085 WHIP. In all be it a small sample size, Brown impressed in his time with the big club. He pitched 20.1 innings, struck out 22, walked seven, had an ERA of 0.89, and a 1.082 WHIP.
With Verlander now gone from the Astros rotation and on to the New York Mets, Brown will be filling one of the starting positions. The stage is set for the protege to step forward and shine.