What years did Brandon Backe play?

Brandon Backe played in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2009.

Was Brandon Backe a pitcher?

Yes. Brandon Backe pitched in the major leagues, recording 31 wins and 360 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Brandon Backe hit?

Brandon Backe hit 4 career home runs with 34 hits.

What teams did Brandon Backe play for?

Brandon Backe played for 2 teams: the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2002–2003) and the Houston Astros (2004–2009).

What were Brandon Backe's career stats?

In 145 games, Brandon Backe went 31-29 with a 5.23 ERA, 360 strikeouts, and 525.1 innings pitched.

What was Brandon Backe's salary?

Brandon Backe's last recorded salary was $1,550,000, in 2009. His highest recorded salary was $1,550,000, in 2009, and his lowest was $350,000, in 2005. The Salary History table lists each season from 2005 to 2009.

What position did Brandon Backe play?

Brandon Backe played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Brandon Backe and how much did he weigh?

Brandon Backe was listed at 6 feet and 182 pounds.

What was Brandon Backe's career ERA?

Brandon Backe finished with a 5.23 career ERA, going 31-29 with 360 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Brandon Backe have?

Brandon Backe recorded 360 career strikeouts.

Is Brandon Backe in the Hall of Fame?

No. Brandon Backe has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Brandon Backe

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2002-2009)

Brandon Backe was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2009 for the Tampa Bay Rays and the Houston Astros, a span of 8 seasons. Across 145 career appearances, he went 31-29 with a 5.23 ERA and 360 strikeouts. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 35.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 31–29

ERA 5.23

WHIP 1.55

SO 360

Pitcher PIV -12672.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 182 lb
Born: 4/5/1978 in Galveston, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 2002-07-19
Last Game: 2009-06-18

Full name: Brandon Allen Backe

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Career Pitching Statistics

Brandon Backe — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
31	29	145	79	1	1	0	525.1	574	305	87	238	360	5.23	-12672.5

Career ERA 5.23 vs. league average 4.39 across their career seasons — 19.2% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Brandon Backe Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2002	TBA	AL	0	0	9	0	0	0	13.0	15	10	7	6	6.92	4.28 (-62%)	-922.3
2003	TBA	AL	1	1	28	0	0	0	44.2	40	27	25	36	5.44	4.40 (-24%)	-647.2
2004	HOU	NL	5	3	33	9	0	0	67.0	75	32	27	54	4.30	4.46 (+4%)	-279.2
2005	HOU	NL	10	8	26	25	1	1	149.1	151	79	67	97	4.76	4.29 (-11%)	-1905.2
2006	HOU	NL	3	2	8	8	0	0	43.0	43	18	18	19	3.77	4.53 (+17%)	-441.4
2007	HOU	NL	3	1	5	5	0	0	28.2	27	12	11	11	3.77	4.47 (+16%)	-841.0
2008	HOU	NL	9	14	31	31	0	0	166.2	202	112	77	127	6.05	4.32 (-40%)	-6459.2
2009	HOU	NL	0	0	5	1	0	0	13.0	21	15	6	10	10.38	4.32 (-140%)	-1177.0
Career · 8 seasons			31	29	145	79	1	1	525.1	574	305	238	360	5.23	—	-12,673

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Brandon Backe — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
153	133	22	34	5	2	4	16	1	10	48	.256	.317	.414	.731	35

Career AVG .256 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .317 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .414 vs. league average .422 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .731 vs. league average .755 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Brandon Backe — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2002	TBA	AL	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2003	TBA	AL	29	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	HOU	NL	34	16	3	5	0	0	1	6	0	1	8	.312	—	—	—	—	0.0
2005	HOU	NL	28	45	5	10	2	2	0	6	1	3	12	.222	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	HOU	NL	9	14	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
2007	HOU	NL	7	10	5	4	1	0	1	1	0	1	3	.400	—	—	—	—	0.0
2008	HOU	NL	32	47	8	13	2	0	2	3	0	3	18	.277	—	—	—	—	35.3
2009	HOU	NL	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			153	133	22	34	5	2	4	16	1	10	48	.256	—	—	—	—	35

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Brandon Backe — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
8	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Brandon Backe — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
2005	NLCS	HOU	1	2	1	.000
2005	NLDS2	HOU	2	1	0	.000
2005	WS	HOU	1	2	1	.000
2004	NLCS	HOU	3	5	3	.000
2004	NLDS2	HOU	1	1	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Brandon Backe — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	7	6	0	36.2	24	12	12	32	2.95

Playoff Pitching by Year

Brandon Backe — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2005	NLCS	HOU	0	1	1	5.2	2	1	3	7	1.59
2005	NLDS2	HOU	0	2	1	5.1	6	5	3	3	8.44
2005	WS	HOU	0	1	1	7.0	5	0	0	7	0.00
2004	NLCS	HOU	0	2	2	12.2	6	4	4	10	2.84
2004	NLDS2	HOU	1	1	1	6.0	5	2	2	5	3.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (298 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Brandon Backe — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	70	60	14	20	4	11	.333
Away	83	73	8	14	0	5	.192

Pitching — Home / Away

Brandon Backe — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	66	253.1	257	129	106	190	4.58
Away	79	272.0	317	176	132	170	5.82

Last 10 Games — Batting

Brandon Backe — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	BB	SO
2009-06-18	HOU	TEX	W	0	0	0
2009-06-12	HOU	AZ	L	1	0	1
2009-06-09	HOU	CHC	L	0	1	0
2009-06-04	HOU	COL	L	0	0	0
2009-05-30	HOU	PIT	L	0	0	0
2008-09-27	HOU	ATL	L	0	0	0
2008-09-17	HOU	MIA	L	0	0	0
2008-09-07	HOU	COL	W	1	0	1
2008-09-02	HOU	CHC	W	1	0	0
2008-08-28	HOU	CIN	W	2	0	2

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Brandon Backe — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2009-06-18	HOU	TEX	—	4.0	4	3	3	1	0	2
2009-06-12	HOU	AZ	—	3.0	5	5	5	0	5	3
2009-06-09	HOU	CHC	—	3.0	6	2	2	3	4	0
2009-06-04	HOU	COL	—	2.0	3	3	3	2	0	0
2009-05-30	HOU	PIT	—	1.0	3	2	2	0	1	0
2008-09-27	HOU	ATL	L	1.1	8	8	8	1	1	2
2008-09-17	HOU	MIA	L	1.2	6	5	5	2	2	2
2008-09-02	HOU	CHC	—	4.1	9	3	3	2	2	3
2008-08-28	HOU	CIN	W	6.2	6	2	2	1	6	0
2008-08-23	HOU	NYN	W	7.0	5	3	3	1	4	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Brandon Backe — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	145	79	37	66	1	7

Season-by-Season Fielding

Brandon Backe — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2002	TBA	P	9	0	0	0	0	0
2003	TBA	P	28	0	3	3	0	1
2004	HOU	P	33	9	4	10	0	1
2005	HOU	P	26	25	8	19	0	1
2006	HOU	P	8	8	5	9	0	1
2007	HOU	P	5	5	2	6	0	1
2008	HOU	P	31	31	15	17	1	2
2009	HOU	P	5	1	0	2	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Brandon Backe — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	145

Salary History

Brandon Backe's recorded salaries total $3,687,500 over 5 seasons, 2005 to 2009. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Backe's career ran from 2002 to 2009. No salary is recorded for 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Brandon Backe — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2009	HOU	NL	$1,550,000
2008	HOU	NL	$800,000
2007	HOU	NL	$545,000
2006	HOU	NL	$442,500
2005	HOU	NL	$350,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$3,687,500

College History

Brandon Backe — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Galveston College	Galveston	TX	1997, 1998

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Brandon Backe (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Brandon Backe: the record in brief

July 19, 2002 and June 18, 2009 bracket Brandon Backe's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. The season rows list, in order, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2002 to 2003) and the Houston Astros (2004 through 2009). Born on April 5, 1978, in Galveston, TX, USA, Backe is listed as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Backe's listed size is 182 pounds on a 6-foot-0 frame. The bio lists the given name Brandon Allen.

The pitching table credits Backe with a 31-29 record and a 5.23 ERA in 145 games. The totals include 360 strikeouts. The league ERA over Backe's seasons was 4.39, so the 5.23 figure ran 19.2% worse than average. No season topped the 10 wins of 2005. 2008 produced Backe's most strikeouts, 127. 2005 was Backe's sharpest full season, a 4.76 ERA against the league's 4.29.

Frequently Asked Questions about Brandon Backe

What years did Brandon Backe play?: Brandon Backe played in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2009.
Was Brandon Backe a pitcher?: Yes. Brandon Backe pitched in the major leagues, recording 31 wins and 360 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Brandon Backe hit?: Brandon Backe hit 4 career home runs with 34 hits.
What teams did Brandon Backe play for?: Brandon Backe played for 2 teams: the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2002–2003) and the Houston Astros (2004–2009).
What were Brandon Backe's career stats?: In 145 games, Brandon Backe went 31-29 with a 5.23 ERA, 360 strikeouts, and 525.1 innings pitched.
How much did Brandon Backe earn in his career?: Brandon Backe's recorded salaries total $3,687,500 over 5 seasons, 2005 to 2009. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Backe's career ran from 2002 to 2009. No salary is recorded for 2002, 2003, and 2004.
What was Brandon Backe's salary?: Brandon Backe's last recorded salary was $1,550,000, in 2009. His highest recorded salary was $1,550,000, in 2009, and his lowest was $350,000, in 2005. The Salary History table lists each season from 2005 to 2009.
What position did Brandon Backe play?: Brandon Backe played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Brandon Backe and how much did he weigh?: Brandon Backe was listed at 6 feet and 182 pounds.
What was Brandon Backe's career ERA?: Brandon Backe finished with a 5.23 career ERA, going 31-29 with 360 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Brandon Backe have?: Brandon Backe recorded 360 career strikeouts.
Is Brandon Backe in the Hall of Fame?: No. Brandon Backe has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.