(Columbus, GA) — Two years ago, Harlan Alum Brett Sears was just another pitcher who was throwing in a summer league and getting ready to play for the University of Nebraska with a lot of uncertainty on what the future for him in the sport would hold. Now, he is a prospect in the Atlanta Braves farm system with a clear path to the major leagues in front of him.
Sears is pitching for Double-A Columbus in the Southern League and this past Sunday, threw 6 scoreless innings leading the Clingstones to a 3-0 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas. The names are no joke — a Clingstone is a type of peach by the way — it was the first start for Sears back at AA after a making a brief stop in AAA which is one step below the Major League level.
Sears was selected by the Braves in the 7th round of last year’s Major League Draft and has quickly moved up the farm system. He has played for four teams so far this season — at Rome in A ball, Sears was 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA in his three starts. Moving to High A ball for Augusta in the Carolina League, Sears was 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his five games. He was sent to AA Columbus and in 9 games went 4-3 with a 3.71 ERA before getting the call up to Gwinnett in AAA. There he struggled in his two starts and was sent back to Columbus but Sears felt like he learned something
Sears was on Atlanta’s radar in 2023 but he bet on himself and put together an All-American season with the Huskers, going 9-1 with a 2.16 ERA. The Braves drafted him and Sears says there was no one thing that he did — he just pitched and started developing confidence
Sears is a throw back type of pitcher — he is not going to blow up the radar gun at the 100 mph level. He just gets people out and he says there a number of ways to be a successful pitcher
Sears does not rank among the top 20 Braves prospects but they must like him by going from low A to AAA in one season. When he was at Harlan, he helped lead the Cyclones to a 2016 state title and two state runners up and he says there things with those teams that stick with him today
Brett Sears’ younger brother Cade is trying to follow a similar path — both played at Iowa Central, both played in the summer Northwoods League and Cade just recently accepted a scholarship offer to play for Vanderbilt.
Complete Interview with Harlan Alum and current pitcher for AA Columbus Brett Sears
