ANDOVER — A month or so after Kevin Graber announced that he was returning as the head coach of the Phillips Academy baseball team, he was leading the team’s fall long-toss program and made it a routine to stand behind his ace pitcher Robert Brown III.
“The ball comes out of his hand with this God-given run (to it). It’s just a gift to have that kind of movement on all your pitches. With that gift comes responsibility to be able to locate it and hit the strike zone,” said Graber.
Fast forward to last week. While the Big Blue team was down in Florida preparing for this season, the 6-foot-1 right-hander, pounded the strike zone pitch after pitch.
He tossed three innings in an exhibition game, striking out all nine batters he faced.
“I couldn’t ask for a better way to roll into the regular season,” said Brown, a North Andover resident.
Throwing from a three-quarter arm slot, Brown struck out those nine batters mixing up his three deadly pitches: a 91-93 mph fastball; a change-up that sits at 83-84; and the slider, which is between 80-82.
“His pitches have so much movement that his challenges become his focal point,” said Graber. “Where do I start these pitches to get them to finish where I need them to? The movement is consistent.”
“It’s like (former NFL star wide receiver) Jerry Rice running a slant (pattern) across the middle (of the football field). You don’t throw the football to where he is; you throw the football to where he’s going to be,” the coach added.
Brown said that ever since he started pitching, his fastball would run into right-handed hitters and his change-up would run into left-handed hitters, but also drop, acting like a sinker.
Those two pitches along with a curveball helped him finish last season with a 2.30 ERA and 43 K’s in just 31.2 innings. He then realized – with the help of Graber – that he needed to add a different pitch to his repertoire.
“We got rid of the curveball and focused solely on the slider, and you can argue that it’s my best pitch now,” he said. “I have worked a lot on developing that pitch along with my change-up. We focused on landing on a flat foot, keeping the arm action short, and getting my glove arm up in my delivery. It’s helped a lot, and it’s helped my command a lot. I feel like now I can throw the ball wherever I want to.”
Having that arsenal in his right arm – along with his size and make-up – has put Brown on the map of high school baseball. According to Perfect Game, he’s the No. 2 ranked Massachusetts ranked pitcher and third in New England.
Back in September of 2023, he verbally committed to pitch at Penn State for coach Mike Gambino, the former longtime coach at Boston College. Brown met Gambino when he attended his camps and was told that “you don’t throw hard enough.”
“The one thing I really love about Coach Gambino is he stays true to his word. At the first camp I went to, he told me I didn’t throw hard enough. I worked on it and got better,” said Brown.
“The first day we were allowed to visit (colleges) was Sept. 1 of (2023). I was there on Sept. 2 and on Sept. 7, I committed. It’s the best decision I have ever made,” he stated.
