Brandon Clifford Poulson (born February 16, 1990) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in Minor League Baseball who is currently a free agent. The Minnesota Twins signed Poulson out of the

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...

, when he demonstrated that he could throw a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

of .

Career

Poulson attended Piner High School in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

. He tried out for the school's baseball team, but did not make it as a freshman. After he graduated, he enrolled at

Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. Santa Rosa Junior College was modeled as a feeder school for the Universi ...

, where he played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for two years. After a year, Poulson went to work for his father's excavation business as a truck driver. His father encouraged him to give sports another try, so he joined a Sunday night league. There, he was referred to a coach of the

's baseball team, and the school offered Poulson a scholarship to enroll. His only season for the Urban Knights was not successful, however, with an 8.38

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in innings pitched. After the season, he joined the Healdsburg Prune Packers of the

Golden State Collegiate Baseball League The Golden State Collegiate Baseball League (GSCBL) is a collegiate wood-bat baseball league based out of San Jose, California. It is a 5-team league that was created in 2012 following the folding of the Pacific West Baseball League, and featu ...

. Through coaching, he became able to throw a

. He recorded a 1.45 ERA with 31 strikeouts in innings, allowing only six hits. Poulson was not selected in the

2014 Major League Baseball Draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. After the draft, Poulson threw for

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

at the Art Academy, who were impressed with his velocity. The Twins signed Poulson to a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

contract with a $250,000 signing bonus. He made his professional debut with the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. In six games with Elizabethton, he struck out nine batters in innings, but walked 13 en route to an 8.59 ERA. Poulson improved in 2015 with the

GCL Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, t ...

of the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

, whiffing 26 batters in innings and recording a 3.10 ERA and his first professional win. However, the Twins decided the 25-year-old no longer fit into their plans and released him. On April 5, 2016, Poulson signed with the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseb ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, but was cut in spring training. Poulson moved on to the

Joliet Slammers The Joliet Slammers are a professional baseball team based in Joliet, Illinois, that play in the independent Frontier League. They play their home games at Duly Health and Care Field. They replaced the Joliet JackHammers of the Northern League ...

of the independent

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

and pitched five innings spread over eight games, allowing only four hits—but his control continued be a problem, as he allowed fifteen walks and twelve runs scored. The Slammers released Poulson, and as of 2018 he has not signed with another team.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poulson, Brandon 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Santa Rosa, California Baseball players from Sonoma County, California Baseball pitchers Elizabethton Twins players Academy of Art University alumni Santa Rosa Bear Cubs football players