2021 MLB Draft Report: Indiana’s McCade Brown now on the radar

Big Ten baseball is getting into a rhythm, although a couple of weeks behind most other conferences. Time will tell how the selection committees will rank Big Ten schools for regional pairings due to the conference-only scheduling. This type of schedule also hurts when scouting for the MLB Draft as the Big Ten’s depth in quality talent is just not the same as SEC or ACC’s. However, one pitcher from Indiana has emerged and piqued curiosity within the industry.

Hello, McCade Brown

I didn’t know anything about Indiana’s RHP McCade Brown before this season. My first impressions of Brown were what he accomplished against Rutgers on March 6. Brown struck out 12 batters in seven innings while only allowing three hits and one run. A pretty impressive outing to start his season.

Doing the legwork to learn more and quickly understanding why so many this past week in the draft community is enamored with Brown. In that start against Rutgers, Brown struck out more batters than he did combine in 2019 and 2020. Albeit tiny sample sizes, but Brown had a terrible time trying to control his pitches, which led to an eye-opening amount of walks. Not much of a reason to have Brown pitch more innings for Indiana.

From Normal, Illinois, Brown went back home to partake in the Kernals Collegiate League, a small Summer League with just four teams. It was there that Brown started to compile impressive results. He appeared in six games and pitched 22.2 innings allowing only five hits with 11 walks. What pops off the stat sheet is Brown’s strikeout total as he racked up 50 in that short time. Putting up a 62.9% first-pitch strike rate and no walks in 66.3% of his innings pitched. Sure, it’s a small Summer League ball, but at least Brown was posting positive results.

Word out of Normal was that Brown’s velocity was hitting 96 mph, and he now had two breaking pitches: a spike curve and slider. At 6’6’ 215 lbs, Brown had the ideal pitcher’s frame that teams covet but did he have the command to make himself a worthy Top 10 rounds pick?

What Brown did last week against Penn State has caught a lot of eyes. After flirting with disasters in the first inning, walking two hitters, Brown regained his command and pitched one of the best outings I’ve seen this season. Total dominance over seven no-hit innings, the two walks from the first inning, and 16 strikeouts - tying the school record.

Brown’s next scheduled start is this upcoming weekend against Purdue. The Hoosier right-hander is worth following to see if he can maintain this level of dominance. If Brown does, we could be looking at another possible option for the Chicago White Sox at Pick 22.

Games I'm Watching this Weekend

Arizona vs. UCLA: Matt McLain was considered the top college position player. In 15 games, McLain only has four extra-base hits (three doubles, one home run). Hoping to see a little more pop from the UCLA middle infielder in a vital series against Arizona. 

Washington State vs. Oregon State: Remember Kevin Abel, the 2018 College World Series hero? After missing 2019 due to Tommy John surgery, Abel appears to be back to his Freshman self until Oregon rocked him for five runs last week. I’ll be watching to see where Abel is today to gauge where he could fall between the 2nd and 5th rounds. 

NCBWA Top 25 Poll - 3/15/2021