I know what you’re thinking.
Who is Charles Brewer?
There’s a reason why you don’t know who Charles Brewer is.
Charles Brewer hasn’t been very good.
Here’s what you need to know about the former Diamondback:
- Brewer pitched for UCLA with Trevor Bauer and Gerritt Cole, and went 12-10 with a 4.88 ERA in three seasons at there. He wasn’t special, but likely got noticed because of the other two pitchers, which seems to ring true since the Diamondback drafted him in the 12th round in 2009, after his junior year.
- He was outstanding in the low minors, never posting an ERA above 2.98, and he had K/9 rates that were 10 or better. To anyone that follows the minors though, this is when the rubber meets the road. What will a pitcher with questionable stuff do once he heads off to the real competition of the upper minors? While he looked decent in Double A over the years (8-3, 2.95 ERA), he was just nothing special in Triple A, going 24-29, with a 5.29 ERA in stretches over three seasons.
- He did get a cup of coffee with the Diamondbacks in 2013, pitching in four games totaling six innings as a reliever. He was fine, giving up two runs over the stretch, while striking out five and walking two, but he never made it back.
- He was never really a highly thought of piece of the Diamondbacks minor league system, that has always seemed to showcase good starters. He’s never rated in the top ten of Baseball America’s DBacks prospect lists. No, by itself, that doesn’t mean anything, but you can see that the pedigree isn’t there.
- He throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a curveball and a changeup, according to fangraphs, and his velocity is right in the 90 MPH range. Yeah, that scares me too.
- Scott Barnes was designated for assignment. The lefty could never take the next step after acquiring him from the San Francisco Giants for Ryan Garko. No big surprise there either. I suppose they got rid of a known commodity in Barnes, who they feel can’t make it, for a guy in Brewer that may still have a chance. Not really sure. I just know Barnes has been a disappointment over the past three years, as both a starter and a reliever.
So, who is Charles Brewer at the end of the day? He’s a project pitcher who can add depth in Columbus. It’s that simple. If he ends up pitching in Cleveland, that’s a really good sign that your Cleveland Indians aren’t having a very good season.
The Indians top seven pitchers right now are Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, T.J. House, Zach McAllister and Josh Tomlin. Where does Brewer fit in after that?
Hopefully a long way down.
Of course, we do have Mickey Callaway, but can Callaway, or Ruben Niebla teach this guy how to throw four or five miles per hour faster?
Yeah, I doubt it too.
Please temper this with the knowledge that I’ve never seen Charles Brewer pitch, nor has any other person in the Cleveland blogosphere that has written a piece about him today. We’re all cultivating our opinions based on the fact that others haven’t liked what they’ve seen, combined with the fact that the DBacks designated him for assignment. Perhaps there is a diamond in the rough, but the information that’s out there says it’s a longshot. He’s a depth pick-up and nothing more. Pray you don’t see him in the bigs as a starter, or that Mickey Callaway and Ruben Niebla can find something that’s missing.
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