Report Card Series: Grading Hunter Brown in the 2022 Season

The 2022 Houston Astros secured their second World Series in franchise history. After 106 wins and a world championship, it's safe to say most members of the team performed well and met or exceeded expectations.

This offseason, Climbing Tal's Hill will be offering up their report card for the 2022 Astros. Our firstinstallment graded the rotation mainstays that threw the majority of the season. Hunter Brown and Lance McCullers Jr. were omitted from the piece, but would be receiving a piece of their own. LMJ was spotlighted earlier this week, leaving the rookie left up for review,

Hunter Brown was a call-up once rosters expanded to 28, and Houston's top prospect did not disappoint. Brown had spent all season in AAA dominating the opposition to the tune of a 2.55 ERA and 11.4 K/9. After his promotion, Brown made seven appearances and two starts.

Across 20.1 innings, Brown limited the opposition to a .205 batting average against and a .563 OPS. He struck out 27.5% of batters he faced on the way to holding opponents to a 0.89 ERA.

Brown's advanced stats looked great as well. His four pitches all had negative runs values and he held opponents to a .213 xBA and a .316 xSLG. His command was better in the bigs as well, albeit in a small sample size, throwing a first-pitch strike 63.7% of the time and limiting his walks to 3.1 per nine innings.

Brown's very small sample sized debut in Houston was a resounding success and he forced his way onto all three playoff rosters. His seven appearances in the regular season were dominant. His three playoff appearances were somewhat stressful, yielding three walks and two hits across his 3.2 innings of work, though he managed to emerge without allowing a run.

When factoring in his dominance in AAA, where he was named PCL Pitcher of the Year, Brown commands high marks on his season score. Had he spent all season in the bigs, he'd score even higher, but I look for Brown to score in the A range next season.

Hunter Brown's 2022 Report Card: A- (91/100)