DETROIT, Mich. – Former Colorado State University Pueblo pitcher Beau Brieske was recently named Detroit Tigers Primitiv Performance June Reliever of the Month after recording an 0.85 WHIP and holding opponents to a .185 batting average during the month of June.
Brieske, who is in his third season as a pitcher with the Tigers, earned the Primitiv Reliever of the Month in June after tossing 15.1 innings of work in nine appearances out of the bullpen for the AL Central Tigers. In those 15.1 innings of work, Brieske allowed 10 hits, six runs, walked three and struck out 17. He recorded a 3.52 ERA and a 1-0 record for the month.
During the month, he tossed at least two innings out of the bullpen in four of his appearances and recorded two or more strikeouts in six outings, including four strikeouts each against Texas on June 3 and Philadelphia on June 24. Brieske's lone win of the month came against the defending World Series Champion Rangers on June 3 as he tossed three shutout innings out of the bullpen and tallied four strikeouts and did not walk a batter.
On the season, Brieske, who began the 2024 season in Triple A with the Toledo Mudhens before being recalled to the Tigers on May 13, is sporting a 1-0 record and a 3.24 ERA as he has made 15 appearances and has tossed 25 innings. In those 25 innings, he has recorded 22 strikeouts and has a 1.00 WHIP. In his MLB career, Brieske is 6-9 with a 3.88 ERA in 55 appearances, including 16 starts. He has picked up two career saves and in 141.2 innings of work, he has recorded 107 strikeouts and has a career WHIP of 1.21.
In 2023, Brieske was limited to 25 appearances, including one start with the Tigers after missing the first half of the season with an injury. He made his first appearance in 2023 and his first career big league relief appearance on July 15 at Seattle, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and three strikeouts. He earned his first career big league save on Aug. 5 against Tampa Bay and threw 2.0 perfect innings on Aug. 10 against Minnesota to earn his second career save. Picked up his first win of the season on Aug. 31 against the New York Yankees throwing a perfect 10th innings with two strikeouts and notched a second win on Sept. 30 against Cleveland.
Brieske saw his first big league action in 2022 as he made his debut in the second game of a doubleheader on April 23 against the Colorado Rockies. In that start, he allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings of work. Allowed just one run on three hits and three strikeouts in five innings in his second MLB start on April 30 at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Was the first Tigers pitcher since Victor Santos in 2001 to begin his big league career by throwing five innings or more and allowing three hits or less in each of his first two starts. In fact, he began his career by throwing at least five innings and allowing no more than three runs in each of his first four starts, which was the first Tigers pitcher to accomplish that since Kyle Lobstein in 2014. Brieske would eventually have a streak of 13 scoreless innings during the season, which was the longest by a Tigers rookie starting pitcher since Michael Fulmer in 2016, before being placed on the injured list on July 21 with a right forearm muscle injury and missed the remainder of the 2021 season.
Prior to making his MLB debut on April 23, 2022 against the Colorado Rockies, Brieske earned the Tigers' Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors in 2021 after combining for a 9-4 record with a 3.12 ERA (106.2 IP / 37 ER) and 116 strikeouts in 21 starts between Single A West Michigan and Double A Erie (Pa.). He was named a Tigers Organization All-Star by MiLB.com and was ranked third in the Tigers player development system in wins and strikeouts, while being sixth in innings pitched. Earned two High A Central League Pitcher of the Week honors and was promoted to Double A Erie for the final two month of the season and allowed two runs or fewer in seven of eight starts.
Brieske began his professional career in 2019 after being selected in the 27th round of the MLB Draft. He did not allow an earned run in six of his first seven appearances from June 25-July 1, compiling a 3-1 record and a 2.57 ERA (14.0 IP / 4 ER) and 22 strikeouts.
Prior to being drafted by the Tigers with the 802nd overall pick in 2019, Brieske pitched the 2019 season with the ThunderWolves' after transferring from Glendale Community College. During his junior season in 2019 with the Pack, Brieske started 14 games and went 7-5 with a 5.42 ERA and recorded 116 strikeouts over 79.2 innings of work and had a 1.59 WHIP as he walked just 27 batters.
The 116 strikeouts were the second-most in school history and the most by a Pack pitcher in 50 years. In addition, those 116 strikeouts led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and were 10th most in NCAA Division II. He fanned 13.10 batters per nine innings, which was 13th in Division II.
He was named a First-Team All-RMAC selection and collected two RMAC Pitcher of the Week honors. He also became just the third CSU Pueblo baseball player in school history to strikeout more than 100 batters in a season. He struck out 10 or more batters in six of his 14 starts, including a career-high 15 strikeouts in a win over Regis University on March 15. He was the first Pack baseball player to be drafted since Taylor Snyder was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 13th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Snyder, who was recently released by the Birmingham Barons on Aug. 1, 2023, has recorded 497 career hits, has scored 297 runs, hit 88 home runs, has had 297 RBI in 2,024 minor league at-bats.
