Brock Stewart Climbs Back to the“Bigs”

The story of Brock Stewart is one of dedication, perseverance, and dogged determination. Hollywood in their wildest dreams could have never written the script to his life. No one would have believed the story.

Stewart was down on the mat and counted out so many times in his career. But it’s May 2023, and Brock Stewart is not only pitching in the majors, but he is excelling and becoming a major contributor to the Minnesota Twins’ relief staff. Here’s his story.

Brock Stewart Starts His Pro Career

The story of Brock Stewart’s baseball career starts off in a very unremarkable fashion. As a high school senior, Stewart was the 40th-round pick of the New York Mets in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. Instead of signing with the Mets, he opted to enroll at Illinois State University to continue his baseball career. In his junior year, he became a starting pitcher for the Redbirds. Up until that season, he primarily was a third baseman.

In his final season with Illinois State, pitching mostly in relief, he went 2-3 with one save and a .236 ERA. He also struck out 30 batters in 26 and ¾ innings pitched. Stewart was then drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2014 Baseball Draft, and he was sent to the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Baseball League to start his pro career.

He started one game for the Rookie League Raptors and finished with an overall record of 3-2. Most impressively, he struck out 45 opposing hitters in 34 and 1/3 innings.

Brock Stewart Porgresses Through the Minors

During the 2015 season, Stewart pitched for both Class A Great Lakes of the Midwest League and High A Rancho Cucamonga of the California League. Used mainly as a starter that year, he went 4-6 with a 4.46 ERA in 101 innings pitched. However, he did continue his fireballing ways by K’ing 103 batters for the season.

The 2016 baseball season would be a breakthrough year for Brock Stewart. After pitching at the A, AA, and AAA levels and going a combined 9-4 with a 1.79 ERA, in late June, Stewart was summoned to the “Big Show” by the Dodgers.

He Makes the “Big Show”

He appeared in seven games that year, five as a starter, and had some success striking out 25 hitters in 28 innings. However, more often than not, the big leaguers caught up with his fastball as he surrendered seven dingers and notched an ERA of 5.79.

2017 saw Stewart splitting his time between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Triple-A Oklahoma, City, and the Dodgers. Both starting and relieving for the big club, his ERA improved to 3.41 and he collected his first major league save.

Tough Times Arrive

The 2018 season saw a digress in Brock Stewart’s career as he made only nine appearances with the parent club. And when he did pitch, he was hammered by major league hitters to the tune of a 6.11 ERA and a 1.811 Whip. Most of his appearances that year were out of the bullpen.

Still with the Dodgers organization in 2019, he shuttled between Oklahoma City and the Dodgers with horrific results. He allowed 21 home runs between the two stints and even his strikeouts were significantly down.

Was Brock Stewart Finished with Baseball

He was waived by the Dodgers and signed by the Toronto Blue Jays that year on July 31. Pitching in relief, his struggles continued, and he was tagged for nine home runs in 21 and 2/3 innings while pitching for the Blue Jays. He recalls his final day in a Blue Jays uniform “This could be it,” he thought to himself. “This could be the last time I’m on a big league field.”

Released by the Blue Jays after the season, he was picked up by the Chicago Cubs in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft on December 12. Then things got really bad for Brock Stewart.

With COVID-19 sweeping the world, baseball took a pause to consider its next steps. What the commissioner and the franchise owners decided was that Major League Baseball would conduct a fan-less shortened schedule. But even worse, the minor leagues would be shuddered that year to prevent the additional spread of the virus. So, Stewart, like all minor league players that year would be on the sidelines until at least the 2021 season.

More Hard Knocks

The Cubs proceeded to release Stewart on May 28, 2020. Barred from affiliated baseball that season, he latched on with an independent team, the Chicago Deep Dish. He pitched well that season sporting a 3.38 ERA and a return to more velocity on his fastball.

Then, an opportunity knocked on Brock Stewart’s door once again. He was offered and accepted a minor league contract with the Dodgers on December 11, 2020. What followed after that was undoubtedly the low point of his comeback bid.

While preparing for the 2021 season, Stewart injured his arm and was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery ending his season. Released by the Dodgers, he faced the prospect of restarting his comeback after two dormant years.

Another Chance

In July of 2022, and after a long period of rehabbing from his surgery, Brock Stewart received got some happy news. The Minnesota Twins came calling and signed him to a minor league contract. Briefly with the Twins’ Rookie League team, he then moved on to pitch at Minnesota’s Single-A franchise In Fort Myers Florida. He had mixed results at those two stops, but the Twins were pleased that the velocity had returned.

Stewart was promoted to the team’s Triple-A franchise, the St. Paul Saints on September 5 of last year. He was roughed up some in St. Paul, but he also struck out 11 batters in 7 and 1/3 innings. Even more impressively, he did not give up a run in his final four appearances of the season. The Twins organization opted to retain Stewart for the 2023 season to see what he had left in the tank.

Then everything clicked for Stewart. His fastball velocity returned to the mid 90’s and he was lights out for the Saints to start the season. Pitching strictly in relief, he was one of the top Triple-A pitchers for the month of April. He compiled a stat line that included 2 saves, an ERA of 2.08, and 17 strikeouts in 11 2/3 inning pitched.  So, after dominating the International League for the first month of the season, Stewart was called up by the Twins to aid their beleaguered bullpen.

Brock Stewart is Back in the “Bigs”

Initially used by Minnesota in mop-up situations, Stewart has now earned the trust of Twins manager Rocca Baldelli. “We’re going to use him,” Baldelli said. “He’s only been here a little while, but he’s earned the opportunity to go out there and pitch when it’s tight.”

So, Brock Stewart 31, finds himself back in the “Bigs,” and with a pennant contender no less. Both he and the Twins hope his Minnesota stay is a long and successful one. Looking back, Stewart remarked “There were days where I didn’t know if I wanted to keep going through the grind of the whole rehab process. But I’m sure glad I did.”