Brent Headrick #53

Brent Wayne Headrick (pronounced HED-rick)...X: @BrentHeadrick...Instagram: @ brentheadrick...Wife, Hannah...He and his wife volunteered at the United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades processing center during 2023 Spring Training, helping sort donations for Lee County school students and their families in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian...Attended Reed-Custer High School in hometown of Braidwood, Ill...was three-year starter for baseball team...Named the Class 2A Player of the Year...Earned All-Area and All-Conference honors all three years...Served as team captain and named MVP final two seasons...Team won conference title as a senior...Also a three-year member of school’s basketball team; earned All-State honors junior and senior years and All-Area and All-Conference honors all three years...Made a school-record 127 three-pointers as a junior, then tied for 17th-highest single-season total in state history...Team won regional championships three-straight years...Also a member of school’s golf team for two years...Earned All-Academic honors in all three sports played...Received all-state academic nomination...Pitched three seasons collegiately at Illinois State University from 2017-19...Went 14-12, 4.55 ERA (205.2 IP, 104 ER) with 70 walks and 193 strikeouts in 42 career games (39 starts) for the Redbirds...Named 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and 2019 All-MVC First Team...Named to the 2019 MVC Scholar-Athlete Team and 2019 MVC All-Tournament Team...Favorite musical artist is Lil Wayne and favorite restaurant is Chipotle... Brent is known for his big hands – like, think Sandy Koufax-esque size...Just like the left-handed Hall of Famer, he can hold seven baseballs in one hand at once...Participated in 2024 TwinsFest at Target Field.

2023

Pitched in Twins Spring Training for first time in career...Optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on March 14 where he began season...Had four different stints with Minnesota on season and eventually finished season at St. Paul...Made two appearances for the Saints from April 6-11 and was recalled by Minnesota on April 16 (Louie Varland optioned)...Made Major League debut on April 19 at Boston, allowing one run on one hit in 3.0 innings pitched, with two walks and three strikeouts, earning the save in a 10-4 Twins victory...Earned first Major League strikeout, fanning Enmanuel Valdez...Became third pitcher in Twins history (since 1961) to earn a save in his debut, joining Micheal Nakamura (6/7/03) and Steve Barber (4/9/70)...Struck out season-high eight batters on April 26 vs. New York-AL, all in 5.0 innings of relief...Fifth rookie in club history to strike out eight-plus batters in one relief outing, joining Dave Boswell (nine on 5/11/65 vs. CAL), Tom Johnson (nine on 8/6/76 at TEX), Mark Guthrie (eight on 8/22/89 vs. CWS) and Jim Merritt (eight on 9/10/65 at BOS)...Recorded Minor League season-high nine strikeouts (3.2 IP) on May 4 vs. Nashville...Named Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week while at St. Paul on June 4, allowing one run on five hits in 5.0 innings pitched, with seven strikeouts in a relief appearance for the Saints...Earned first Major League win on June 17 vs. Detroit, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts in a Twins 2-0 victory...Finished season at St. Paul but spent the final week of the season throwing to rehabbing hitters (Buxton, Correa, Lewis, et al) to be ready for postseason...Combined to go 7-2, 5.10 ERA (100.2 IP, 57 ER) with 36 walks, 113 strikeouts and a .255 opponent batting average in 33 games (12 starts) between St. Paul and Minnesota on season. 

2022

Began season with High-A Cedar Rapids...Named Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week three times on season (May 1 with Cedar Rapids, Sept. 4 and Sept. 25 with Wichita), tying Louie Varland and David Festa for most in 2022...Struck out regular season-high 10 batters twice: May 4 vs. Quad Cities (with Cedar Rapids) and Aug. 18 vs. Tulsa (with Wichita)…Placed on 7-day Injured List on July 1 after testing positive for COVID-19; reinstated July 10...Promoted to Double-A Wichita July 23...Allowed seven runs over 2.1 innings pitched in first appearance with Wind Surge, but posted a 3.54 ERA (40.2 IP, 16 ER) in nine games to finish season...Started the do-or-die game for Wind Surge in Game 2 of the Texas League Championship on Sept. 27 vs. Frisco, pitching 7.0 shutout innings, with three hits allowed, tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts...Wichita lost 7-5 in 10 innings, ending their season...Combined to go 10-5, 3.32 ERA (108.1 IP, 40 ER) with 40 walks, 136 strikeouts and a .224 opponents batting average in 25 games (23 starts) between both levels...held right-handed batters to a .216 average, compared to .242 vs. left-handers...Ranked second among Twins minor leaguers in strikeouts (136), trailing only Louie Varland (146); also second in innings pitched (108.1)…tied for first in wins (10) with Kody Funderburk and in starts (23) with Varland...Added to Twins 40-man roster Nov. 15...Named left-handed starting pitcher on Twins’ MiLB.com organizational All-Star team...Ranked as 25th-best prospect in Twins system by MLB.com, entering 2023.

2021

Split the season between Rookie GCL Twins and Low-A Fort Myers, going 3-5, 3.82 ERA (61.1 IP, 26 ER) with 33 walks and 86 strikeouts in 15 games (14 starts)...named Twins minor league Pitcher of the Week May 9...struck out minor league career-high of 11 batters June 6 vs. St. Lucie (5.0 IP).

2020

Did not play professionally after minor league season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

2019

Began professional career with Rookie-Elizabethton and appeared in just three games (2 starts), pitching 3.2 innings from Aug. 21-27.