Although Used Limitedly, Houston Astros Rookie Brown Has Been Reliable in Postseason

Walks are killer. And in Hunter Brown's case, he's walked three batters across his three postseason outings. Yet, there isn't room to nitpick the Houston Astros rookie — who didn't make his Major League debut until September.

Thrown straight into the fire for two regular season starts, Brown dazzled, surrendering two runs across six total innings. The righty was relegated to the bullpen upon the return of Justin Verlander and only tossed scoreless frames in his last five appearances.

Brown made his postseason debut in Game 2 of the American League Division Series in what looked to be a loss on Houston's end. The righty tossed a clean inning, allowing a single to Jarred Kelenic — who was gunned down at second base after three pickoff attempts.

Brown hit the mound two days later out of necessity. The 18-inning contest of Game 3 saw the rookie take center stage for 2.0 innings out of the bullpen in which he yielded one hit and surrendered one walk to his one punch out.

His postseason totals come to three walks, two hits and one strikeout over 3.2 innings of work. Brown's M.O. during his Triple-A campaign was his league-leading strikeout total, but in his turn in the Major Leagues, those punch outs haven't come in bunches against Big League hitters.

Rightfully so, promotions won't always mirror the production from the Triple-A affiliate. But for Brown, his lower-leverage spot in the bullpen has come at the hand of one of the best ever constructed. And although a rookie, Brown's shutout outings have saved contests and the usage of higher-leverage arms in three games this October.

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