Brendan McKay and the Beaver Valley Red (PA) won the Week 6 Cooperstown Dreams Park championship in 2008. Brendan was the winning pitcher for the 7th-seeded team, beating top-seeded Jax Storm (FL), 2-1.

Brendan graduated from Blackhawk High School (Chippewa, PA) where he was a four-year letter winner in baseball. He was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Pennsylvania, was named as a First Team All-Atlantic Region selection by Perfect Game, and earned one letter in basketball.

Despite being drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 2014 Major League Baseball amateur draft, Brendan opted to honor his commitment to attend and play baseball at University of Louisville (Louisville, KY). Brendan’s college career highlights include in 2015 National Freshman of the Year (Baseball America/Collegiate Baseball/D1Baseball/Perfect Game), Perfect Game First Team All-America, Freshman All-America (Baseball America/D1Baseball/NCBWA/Louisville Slugger), NCAA Louisville Regional All-Tournament Team, ACC Freshman of the Year, All-ACC First Team (starting pitcher), and All-ACC Second Team (utility player). In 2016, he earned Perfect Game Second Team All-America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Third Team All-America, and NCAA Louisville Regional Most Outstanding Player. Additional accolades are two-time All-ACC First Team (2016, 2017, starting pitcher & utility/designated hitter), two-time USA Baseball Collegiate National Team member (2015, 2016), two-time ABCA First Team All-America (2016, 2017), three-time John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017), three-time Baseball America First Team All-America (2015, 2016, 2017), three-time D1Baseball First Team All-America (2015, 2016, 2017), three-time NCBWA First Team All-America (2015, 2016, 2017), and Consensus 2017 National Player of the Year.

During the 2017 Major League Baseball amateur draft, Brendan was selected in the first round by the Tampa Bay Rays. He made his major league debut on June 29, 2019.