Brandon Young Bio
Brandon Wayne Young (born August 19, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed starter, Young made his MLB debut with Baltimore in 2025 after working his way through the Orioles’ minor league system as an undrafted free agent. Through the early portion of his major league career, he has emerged as a young arm with a long runway for development in the Orioles’ rotation.
Young’s path to the majors began well after his high school graduation, and his rise from a small-town Texas program to a major league mound reflects years of patient development inside Baltimore’s farm system. He continues to wear uniform number 63 for the Orioles.
Early Life and Background
Brandon Wayne Young grew up in the United States and attended Lumberton High School in Lumberton, Texas, graduating in 2016. Lumberton, located in East Texas, has produced a steady stream of college baseball talent over the years, and Young was part of that tradition during his prep career.
After high school, Young continued his baseball journey at the collegiate level, spending two seasons playing for Howard College, a community college program in Big Spring, Texas. He then transferred to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he played two more college seasons for the Ragin’ Cajuns. His path through both a junior college and a four-year university helped him refine his pitching skills and gain visibility with professional scouts.
Path to Baseball
Young’s transition to professional baseball came under unusual circumstances. Because the 2020 MLB Draft was shortened to just five rounds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many talented players, including Young, went unselected. Rather than returning to school, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles as an undrafted free agent on June 14, 2020, beginning his climb through the organization’s farm system.
He did not pitch in an official game during the 2020 season after the minor league campaign was canceled because of the pandemic. Young returned to the mound in 2021 and progressed steadily through the lower levels of the Orioles’ system over the next several years, building the innings and the consistency that would eventually earn him a place in the major league rotation.
Brandon Young Career
Early Career (2020–2022)
Young’s first professional season, 2020, was wiped out by the cancellation of the minor league schedule, which delayed his development timeline by a full year. He made his return in 2021, pitching for the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds and the High-A Aberdeen IronBirds. Across 23 appearances and 20 starts between the two affiliates, he went 4–3 with a 3.52 ERA and recorded 114 strikeouts in 84⅓ innings.
The 2022 season brought both opportunity and adversity. Young opened the year with three starts for the Double-A Bowie Baysox before undergoing Tommy John surgery, an elbow procedure that forced him to miss the rest of the season and required an extensive rehabilitation period. The setback delayed his path to the majors but did not derail it.
Minor League Breakthrough (2023–2024)
Young spent the 2023 season working his way back from surgery, splitting time between the rookie-level Florida Complex League Orioles, Delmarva, Aberdeen, and Bowie. In 11 combined starts, he went 0–5 with a 4.50 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 40 innings, gradually rebuilding his arm strength and his command.
The 2024 campaign marked his true breakthrough. Young made 27 appearances and 24 starts split between Double-A Bowie and the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, finishing with a 5–6 record, a 3.57 ERA, and 132 strikeouts across 111 innings. His performance earned him Baltimore’s minor league pitcher of the year award, and on November 19, 2024, the Orioles added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
Baltimore Orioles Era (2025–Present)
Young opened the 2025 season in the minor leagues, optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to begin the year. On April 19, 2025, the Orioles promoted him to the major leagues for the first time, and he made his MLB debut that same afternoon as the starting pitcher in a 9–5 home win over the Cincinnati Reds. In that first start, he allowed three runs over four innings.
He continued to flash promising moments during the 2025 season. On July 8, Young threw an immaculate inning against the New York Mets, striking out Jesse Winker, Jeff McNeil, and Luis Torrens on nine pitches, becoming the fourth Orioles pitcher to accomplish the feat and the first since Kevin Gausman in 2018. On August 15, he earned his first major league win and carried a perfect game bid through 7⅔ innings against the Houston Astros before it was broken up by an infield single from former teammate Ramón Urías. Young finished the outing with eight innings, no earned runs, no walks, and only one hit allowed. A left hamstring strain suffered while covering first base landed him on the injured list, and the Orioles transferred him to the 60-day injured list on August 27, ending his rookie campaign. Across 12 starts in 2025, he posted a 1–7 record with a 6.24 ERA and 47 strikeouts.
Young was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk to begin the 2026 season. He was recalled on April 6, 2026, after Dietrich Enns was placed on the 15-day injured list with a foot infection, and started that night against the Chicago White Sox before being sent back down the following day.
Notable Events and Milestones
Young’s first months in the majors produced several memorable highlights. His immaculate inning on July 8, 2025, placed him in a small club of Orioles pitchers to achieve the feat, while his 7⅔-inning perfect game bid on August 15 stood as the longest such attempt for Baltimore since Mike Mussina had his own perfect game broken up with two outs in the eighth in 1998.
Brandon Young Career Wins
Brandon Wayne Young’s professional career has produced a steady accumulation of strikeouts and a growing list of memorable outings. After spending several years working through Baltimore’s farm system following his 2020 signing, he has begun building his major league resume with the Baltimore Orioles.
Major League Highlights
Young’s first major league win came on August 15, 2025, against the Houston Astros, an outing in which he carried a perfect game into the eighth inning and finished with eight scoreless frames, no walks, and a single hit allowed. Through his first full rookie season, he made 12 starts for Baltimore, and the Orioles have continued to use him as a depth option at the major league level alongside his Triple-A assignment in Norfolk.
Brandon Young Family
Personal Life
Brandon Wayne Young was raised in Lumberton, Texas, where he attended Lumberton High School. Publicly available details about his immediate family remain limited, and additional personal information has not been widely reported.
2025 Season Performance
Young’s 2025 rookie campaign was defined by flashes of high-end potential mixed with the growing pains typical of a young starter. He made his MLB debut on April 19 against the Cincinnati Reds, started 12 games for the Orioles, and struck out 47 batters while posting a 1–7 record and a 6.24 ERA. His midseason highlights, including the immaculate inning on July 8 and the near-perfect game on August 15, showed the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that Baltimore had seen during his minor league development.
The late-summer leg injury cut his first MLB season short, forcing the Orioles to shut him down after a transfer to the 60-day injured list on August 27. Even so, his 132 strikeouts at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2024, combined with the seven-inning-plus perfect game bid in 2025, suggested that Young remained firmly in the Orioles’ long-term pitching plans.
Entering 2026, Young was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to begin the year, with the Orioles continuing to develop him as a rotation depth piece. His first recall of the new season, on April 6, 2026, against the Chicago White Sox, indicated that Baltimore intends to keep him in the major league mix whenever a starting need arises, and his outlook remains that of a young pitcher with significant upside.