Brody Brecht selected by Colorado Rockies with 38th pick overall in 2024 Major League Baseball Draft
IOWA CITY, Iowa – In late March 2023, Brody Brecht announced that he was giving up playing receiver for the Iowa football team because he wanted to focus solely on pitching for the Iowa baseball team.
It was a huge sacrifice, but it made sense due to Brecht’s enormous potential in baseball.
That potential has since paid huge dividends as Brecht was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the CB-A round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday, and with the 38th pick overall.
Brecht came on the strong during the second half of the 2024 season, posting five quality starts and fanning 128 batters over 78.1 innings.
Brecht is the 30th player drafted under Iowa head coach Rick Heller. He is the highest draft pick under Heller at Iowa.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Ankeny native ranked fourth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (14.71) and seventh in total strikeouts.
Brecht ranked fourth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (14.71) and seventh in total strikeouts.
Brecht is also Iowa’s single season and career strikeout leader. He totaled 281 strikeouts in 178 career innings and had a 10-9 record with a 3.49 ERA while making 32 starts.
Brecht’s fastball has been clocked as high as 104 miles per hour, but he also has a slider that was close to unhittable at the college level when Brecht has his good stuff, and a vastly improved change up.
He struggled with his command, and with his control, at times as a Hawkeye.
But he seems to have solved those issues based on his performance down the stretch in his junior season.
Brecht came to Iowa on a football scholarship as a wide receiver, and he juggled both sports for more than a year before ultimately choosing baseball exclusively.