Former Hoosier McCade Brown Sparkles in 2025 Minor-League Debut

The Colorado Rockies were thrilled when they were able to draft hard-throwing McCade Brown out of Indiana in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft. His potential was off the charts, but it's been a hard go since then, with Brown battling through one injury after another.

But if Wednesday night is any indication, he's feeling just fine right now.

Brown started for the Rockies' High-A affiliate — the Spokane (Wash.) Indians — and threw three perfect innings with six strikeouts. For someone who's only been able to pitch in 34 minor-league games since being drafted, this was a big deal.

"He was phenomenal,'' Spokane pitching coach Blaine Beatty said Thursday during a phone interview. "The first word that I had in my report was impressive, especially with him just getting back into competition. Everything worked.

"He was probably 75-80 percent fastballs, and he was consistently at 97-98 mph all night long. His curveball was really good and he landed some sliders, too. He threw one changeup too, and had good arm action.''

The 6-foot-6 Brown pitched at Indiana from 2019 to 2021 and blossomed as a redshirt sophomore in the '21 campaign. He made 12 starts, went 5-4 with a 3.39 ERA and had 91 strikeouts in just 62 innings. The Normal, Ill., native threw a no-hitter on March 13, 2021 against Penn State, with 16 strikeouts.

After being drafted, he pitched four games in the minors in 2021 and then 18 more in 2022 before suffering an elbow injury that required surgery. He missed all of the 2023 season, and struggled to stay healthy last year, pitching only 23.2 innings.

Spokane pitcher McCade Brown is congratulated by his catcher after pitching three perfect innings with six strikeouts. — Spokane pitcher McCade Brown is congratulated by his catcher after pitching three perfect innings with six strikeouts on Wednesday. | James Snook/Spokane Indians

But he had a good offseason — even throwing some in the Arizona Fall League — and was ready to go when the 2025 minor-league season started this week. Rockies officials have been excited to see him throw, and he did not disappoint.

They are being careful with him, limiting him to just three innings per start throughout April, Beatty said.

"He said he felt good (after the game) and we had a great conversation,'' Beatty said. "He's in a good place right now, and this could be a beautiful thing.

"But our goal for him is to get through a full season healthy. The Rockies really want that, and we're going to do all we can to make that happen. We'll keep him to three innings in April and if needs some time off down the road to stay strong, we'll work with him on that, too. We really want him to feel what it's like to pitch a full season.''