Brooks Pounders


Brooks Casey Pounders is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets.

Career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Pounders graduated from Temecula Valley High School in Temecula, California. As a junior, Pounders committed to play college baseball for the USC Trojans. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Pounders in the second round of the 2009 MLB draft.

Kansas City Royals

After the 2011 season, the Pirates traded Pounders and Diego Goris to the Kansas City Royals for Yamaico Navarro. Pounders underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2013 season, and missed the 2014 season while rehabilitating. He missed the first half of the 2015 season after tearing a latissimus dorsi muscle. After the season, on October 21, 2015, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2015 WBSC Premier 12.
The Royals promoted Pounders to MLB from the Omaha Storm Chasers of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League on July 5, 2016, and he pitched in relief that night against the Toronto Blue Jays. He recorded his first MLB career win on July 7, 2016 after pitching an inning of relief against the Mariners. He finished the 2016 season with a 9.24 earned run average in innings pitched for Kansas City, and a 3.14 ERA in innings pitched for Omaha.

Los Angeles Angels

After the 2016 season, the Royals traded Pounders to the Los Angeles Angels for Jared Ruxer. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Colorado Rockies

On January 29, 2018, Pounders signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. Pitching for the Rockies in 2018, he was 0-1 with a 7.63 ERA in 15.1 innings in which he struck out 17 batters, and pitching for their AAA affiliate in Albuquerque he was 2-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 31 innings in which he struck out 36 batters. He elected free agency on October 9, 2018.

Cleveland Indians

On December 22, 2018, Pounders signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. The deal included an invitation to the Indians' 2019 major league spring training camp.
In 2019 he was 2-1 with one save and a 2.31 ERA in 35 innings in which he struck out 45 batters for their AAA affiliate in Columbus.

New York Mets

Pounders was traded to the New York Mets on June 15, 2019, in exchange for cash considerations. The Mets added him to their MLB roster. He was 1-0 for the Mets with a 6.14 ERA in 7.1 innings, and 1-2 for their AAA affiliate in Syracuse with a 7.59 ERA in 21.1 innings. On August 20, Pounders was designated for assignment. He elected free agency on October 1. On October 10, 2019, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.

Tampa Bay Rays

On February 14, 2020, Pounders signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. Pounders was released by the Rays organization on May 28, 2020.

Personal life

His father, Brad, played Minor League Baseball in the San Diego Padres organization for five years.