Is Matt Brash the biggest steal for the Seattle Mariners?

You might have heard of the name Matt Brash as of late, but for a while, he was a mere afterthought. The Seattle Mariners acquired him almost exactly a year ago from the San Diego Padres for Taylor Williams.

Jerry Dipoto and the Seattle Mariners have made some great trades the past few years, but acquiring Matt Brash might be his biggest steal with the Mariners.

Matt Brash has blossomed into a legitimate top prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization

I remember first being introduced to Matt Brash as the 30th ranked prospect in the organization, and he was just “another” prospect in my head. After a while, I began to analyze his numbers and his pitching form and I thought to myself: “he has a chance.”

But of course, I didn’t put too much into my thinking because he was barely in the Top 30. Now, he has leapfrogged all the way to the #11 spot on MLB.com’s Seattle Mariners prospect rankings.

The 23-year-old right-hander began the year in Everett with some huge names and is now in Arkansas. Some of our pitching prospects struggled to adjust moving from Single-A to Double-A but Brash owns an even better ERA in Arkansas than in Everett.

The former fourth-round pick owns a 1.91 ERA in Double-A and has struck out 48 batters in just 33 innings. In Everett, he posted a 2.55 ERA and struck out 62 batters in 42.1 innings.

You can call me crazy, but I think Matt Brash could be the next Zack Wheeler

I don’t know about you, but I see a lot of familiarities between Brash and Zack Wheeler. Something about the way the Seattle Mariners prospect goes right into his delivery after lifting his leg reminded me of Wheeler immediately. I wouldn’t say Wheeler’s pitching technique is unique, but his push-off of the mound is notable.

Although Matt Brash doesn’t throw as hard as the Phillies ace, Brash still does throw a hard fastball with some nasty offspeed pitches.

What is even greater is that Matt Brash wasn’t even supposed to be a part of the future Seattle Mariners rotation

Let’s be honest, no one expected Matt Brash to be in the 2023 Seattle Mariners rotation. But now, he looks like he could pitch alongside Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Emerson Hancock. Are you kidding me?

And even on top of that, we still have Brandon Williamson, Connor Phillips, and Levi Stoudt… I mean just come on!

Matt Brash has certainly spiced things up in the Mariners minor league system and based on how he is trending right now, he could be a Top 100 prospect next year.