Brooks Brown of the Mobile BayBears has earned an All-Star selection as a
replacement for Birmingham's Carlos Torres, who recently got promoted to Triple-A.
Despite a 5-10 record, Brown has posted a solid 3.74 ERA this season with 82
strikeouts in 19 starts. Although his overall numbers are impressive, it was
Brown's recent play that likely put him over the top for this honor. Over
his past three starts, Brown had gone 2-1, allowing just two runs over 17
innings to compile a 1.12 ERA over that span.
Brown has enjoyed a superlative season outside the month of May. He
allowed Southern League hitters to bat .330 against him that month, but they
have only hit .233 against him for the rest of the year. The sinkerballer
owes much of that success to the outstanding defense of the infielders playing
behind him. Fittingly, teammates Yunesky Sanchez (SS), Rusty Ryal (2B),
and Bryan Byrne (1B) will join Brown on the All-Star roster.
Reliever Abe Woody rounds out the BayBear representation in the
Southern League All-Star Game which will be played at Five County Stadium in
Zebulon, N.C. on Monday, July 14th.