Brewer makes MLB Debut with Padres on Thursday

2015 Power pitcher becomes 67th former player to ascend to MLB

Colten Brewer is the 67th former Power player to debut in the Major Leagues. (West Virginia Power)

By David Kahn

April 16, 2018

CHARLESTON, S.C. (April 16, 2018) - Three years after spending the entire 2015 season in Charleston, W.V., Colten Brewer was recalled by the San Diego Padres and made his MLB debut on Thursday, April 12, against the San Francisco Giants. With that relief appearance, Brewer becomes the 67th former Power player to

CHARLESTON, S.C. (April 16, 2018) - Three years after spending the entire 2015 season in Charleston, W.V., Colten Brewer was recalled by the San Diego Padres and made his MLB debut on Thursday, April 12, against the San Francisco Giants. With that relief appearance, Brewer becomes the 67th former Power player to debut in the Major Leagues.
Brewer started the sixth inning of San Diego's 7-0 loss to the Giants at Petco Park, lasting 0.2 innings and allowing four unearned runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout. The 25-year-old was optioned back to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas the next day.

Originally selected by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 2011 draft, Brewer spent his first five professional season within the Pirates' system. After being sidelined in 2011 due to back issues, he began his professional career in the GCL in 2012, going 1-3 with a 3.24 ERA in eight games (six starts). He spent 2013 in the New York-Penn League before missing all of 2014 and making the jump to the Power in 2015.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Brewer appearaed in 22 games for West Virginia in 2015, boasting a 5-9 record with a 4.90 ERA and 99 strikeouts over 119.1 innings, with his strikeouts and innings ranking fourth-best on the team. He also held batters to a paltry .258 clip against him. He set a career-high in strikeouts with 11 against Greensboro on June 1, 2015, during a six-inning, two-hit gem to grab his first South Atlantic League win.
The Canton (TX) High School alumnus elevated to Class A-Advanced Bradenton in 2016 and finished the season in Florida before he was claimed off waivers in December by the Yankees. Brewer split 2017 between three levels of the New York system while being utilized exclusively as a reliever. Combined between A-Advanced Tampa, Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Brewer made 41 relief appearances and posted a 3-1 record with a 2.82 ERA while collecting 14 saves in 16 tries. He tallied 69 strikeouts to only 16 walks over 60.2 innings pitched.
The Padres signed Brewer in November of last season after he elected free agency, inking the right-hander to a one-year Major League contract before assigning him to Triple-A El Paso. The 6'4", 230-pound reliever made 94 career MiLB appearances (44 starts) with a 14-20 record and a 4.02 ERA over 291 innings before toeing the slab for San Diego last Thursday.
Brewer is the second former Power player to make his MLB debut in 2018, following right-hander Clay Holmes, who pitched two innings for Pittsburgh on Friday, April 6, against the Cincinnati Reds. For information on all of the former Power players who have logged time in the Major Leagues, visit www.wvpower.com.