Get to Know: Mitch Brown, Second Round Draft Pick

Indians second round draft pick Mitch Brown signed with Cleveland on Friday, June 15. Brown, 18, is a high school graduate from Rochester, MN. The right-handed pitcher just began his first season as a member of the Arizona League Indians.

TribeVibe: Where were you during the draft?
Mitch Brown: I was at home. The first day [of the draft], I was at school taking finals, but the next day all my finals were done. I treated it like a normal day. I went and got my workout in, and on my way back from the workout is when I got the phone call. It was my parents saying, ‘We’re so proud of you.’ It was obviously an emotional time. It’s pretty hard to explain, but I would say pretty emotional.

TV: What was going through your mind once the Indians drafted you?
MB: It was a little bit of relief, a little bit of gratification, and it makes you feel good that all your hard work and efforts don’t go in vain and that you get recognized for that stuff. It was a great day, and it was a lot of emotion between my family and I, but it was obviously a dream come true, and I couldn’t be happier.

TV: Describe your style of play.
MB: If I had to describe it in one word, I would say it’s aggressive. I like to pitch inside a lot with the fastball, and I’m probably more of a strikeout pitcher than a finesse pitcher. I just like to go right after hitters, get ahead, and jump on top right away, and keep them off-balance from there.

TV: Do you try to model your game off of a current pitcher?
MB: I really don’t think so. I take a little bit of some players and kind of mix it with my own, but I really don’t think you can try to mirror someone else because everyone has their own style. Obviously, nobody is the same. If I had to compare it to somebody, I try to be like Justin Verlander—aggressive, pitching inside with the fastball, getting a lot of strikeouts.

TV: Your father is Korean. Are you familiar with Shin-Soo Choo at all?
MB: I’m definitely a fan. I was actually just laying on the training table, and [manager Manny Acta] just came in and was like, ‘Who is that? Choo?’ It was kind of funny. He’s a great player. I actually found out a while back that he’s Korean, so I kind of have that fan-hood of him, and I followed him a little bit. It’s really cool to maybe have the opportunity to play with him someday.

TV: Is there something you want fans to know about you?
MB: I would want people to know that I’m just a hard worker. I really believe that you can’t get by on God-given talent, alone; you have to have a good work ethic. I guess the message I would send out to kids is to keep working hard toward your dream. No one could ever take that away from you. If you keep working hard, you can achieve any goal you have.

TV: Do you have any advice for high school athletes?
MB: There’s a lot of things like just keeping your nose clean, the people you hang out with, social groups you throw yourself in with, that plays a big part of your high school career—not only in baseball but in life and in steering you in the right direction. Keep working hard, and focus on your studies. You can be the best baseball player in the world, but if you can’t graduate high school, you’re going to have some serious problems.

TV: Did you participate in any senior pranks?
MB: We actually did our senior prank in the school parking lot. We did a maze, so other cars had to drive through a maze to find their parking spot and stuff. It was all in good fun, and nobody got hurt, no hard feelings or anything like that.

-Megan Golden, TribeVibe contributor