TEMPE, ARIZONA
On Monday, Zack Brown put on his No. 74 Milwaukee Brewers jersey for the first time to take the mound against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
In his Brewers debut, the Seymour native got the start.
Brown, 24, pitched one inning on the afternoon.
After the Angels’ Kole Calhoun lined out to center field, Brown walked Jarrett Parker. With the next at-bat, Jonathan Lucroy popped out to first base. On the final out, Cesar Puello grounded into a force out.
In total, the right-hander threw seven total pitches against four batters.
“I was feeling pretty good,” Brown said in a phone call Monday. “I threw a pretty good pre-game pen. I felt pretty confident. I was just trying to throw strikes today. I wanted to get that good feeling on the mound and pound that zone. I think I did a pretty good job of doing that other than that one walk. It was a good first outing for me to build on.”
Burch Smith replaced Brown in the top of the second inning.
The Brewers led 1-0 after the first inning thanks to a home run by Cory Spangenberg. The Angels scored a run in the third and three runs in the fifth to take the lead. While the Brewers were able to add runs in the seventh and ninth, they fell 4-3.
Eight different pitchers saw the mound for the Brewers in the game. No pitcher tossed more than one inning.
The Brewers currently sit at 1-2 in spring training games. The Crew, which play in the Cactus League, will face the San Diego Padres today and Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Brewers will have split-squad games against the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. Brown said he expects to pitch in one of those games Thursday.
“We have quite a few pitchers. It’s pretty organized as to when when we are pitching and how many innings,” Brown said.
The 2013 Seymour High School graduate was named the Brewers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the 2018 season after a strong season with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers in Mississippi.
The former Kentucky Wildcat was picked by the Brewers with the 141st pick in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB draft.
Brown said he has enjoyed the entire experience so far in Arizona.
“It has been great. Big league camp has been pretty awesome,” he said. “The guys told me right away to be wide-eyed and open-eared. They told me to learn as much as I can while working with them and to just be ready for an opportunity, whether it’s this year or next year. It has just been an awesome experience through the first three weeks.”
The Brewers’ complete spring training schedule can be found online at brewers.com.