Brooks Pounders

Brooks Casey Pounders (born September 26, 1990) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He attended Temecula Valley High School in Temecula, California, and chose not to attend college after he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009. After playing in the minor leagues for the Pirates, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals after the 2011 season. While in the Royals' minor league system, Pounders threw a no-hitter for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in 2013. He made his major league debut with the Royals in 2016, and he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels after the season ended.

Pounders spent 2017 alternating between the Angels' major league club and the minor leagues, before becoming a free agent at the end of the season. Before the 2018 season, Pounders signed a contract with the Colorado Rockies and played for both the Rockies and their Triple A-level affiliate. Again a free agent after the 2018 season, Pounders signed with the Cleveland Indians, but never played a major league game with the team. On June 15, he was traded to the New York Mets and immediately became part of the Mets' major league team. He played briefly with the team before being sent back down to the minor league Syracuse Mets. Pounders was part of the United States national baseball team in the 2015 and 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournaments.

Early life Brooks Casey Pounders was born on September 26, 1990, in Riverside, California, to Brad and Mary Pounders. His father, who had been an infielder in Minor League Baseball, wanted to give Pounders the first and middle names Brooks Robinson after the Baltimore Orioles player of the same name, but Mary Pounders objected.

Pounders attended Temecula Valley High School in Temecula, where he played baseball. When he was a junior at Temecula Valley, he committed to the University of Southern California (USC) baseball team. As a high school senior, Pounders had a 92 win–loss record with a 1.96 earned run average (ERA) and 91 strikeouts in innings pitched.

Career Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates assigned Pounders to the Gulf Coast League Pirates, a rookie-level team. The next season, Pounders was assigned to the State College Spikes, a short-season team

Pounders spent 2011 pitching for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League. He started only one of the 36 games he appeared in, although he did record a 55 win–loss record with three saves. Over 66 innings, he recorded a 3.68 ERA and struck out 72 batters. Pounders later stated that he felt that Pittsburgh had given up on him, but that his transition to Kansas City was easy. After the no-hitter, he was named Texas League pitcher of the week for the week of July 1. The United States team finished second in the tournament. He also pitched for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, pitching 12 scoreless innings with one win

Pounders started the 2016 season with the Triple A-level Omaha Storm Chasers. With the Storm Chasers, Pounders recorded a 2.80 ERA over innings before being called up to the major leagues by the Royals after Wade Davis was put on the disabled list with a forearm injury That same day, Pounders made his major league debut in an 83 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Pounders pitched two innings, giving up one run and striking out three batters. Two days later, Pounders got the win in a game against the Seattle Mariners for his first major league win. Pounders returned to Omaha on July 16, He was then returned to Omaha again on August 3, but was recalled to Kansas City on the 31st. Due to his early-season efforts with the Storm Chasers, he was named to the Pacific Coast League Mid-Season All-Star Team. Over the course of the 2017 season, Pounders bounced between the Angels and the Triple A Salt Lake Bees. He finished the season with a 10.45 ERA and 10 record for the Angels, That day, Pounders threw a scoreless ninth inning against the San Diego Padres. Four days later, he pitched a scoreless eighth against the Miami Marlins. During the month of May, Pounders made six pitching appearances, including pitching a season-high three innings against the San Francisco Giants on May 19. On June 1, he blew a save and took the loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers by allowing four runs without recording an out in the sixth inning. He made five more appearances that month, all in games decided by five or more runs, before being returned to the Isotopes on June 27. While in the Indians organization, Pounders was assigned to the Columbus Clippers of the Triple A International League for the 2019 season. With the Clippers, Pounders appeared in 24 games, all in relief, with a 21 record and a 2.31 ERA. The team's manager Mickey Callaway stated that he had seen improvement in Pounders' slider. He made his first appearance with the Mets the next day, pitching a scoreless ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. On June 21, Pounders picked up the win against the Chicago Cubs by throwing scoreless innings. In total, he appeared in seven games for the Mets, all in the month of June. All of Pounders' outings were scoreless, except for one against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 24, in which he allowed five runs while only recording five outs. On July 2, the Mets sent Pounders down to the Triple A Syracuse Mets. He was then designated for assignment on August 20 and outrighted back to Syracuse three days later. On February 15, 2020, Later that month, he was sent to the Triple A Durham Bulls; the Bulls released him on May 27. Pounders registered a 27.00 ERA across 3 appearances for Tacoma and was released by the organization on September 20.