Jhony Brito

Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2024 opening day age: 27
Height / Weight: 6-foot-2 / 210 pounds
How acquired: Via trade with the New York Yankees in December 2023
Contract status: Earned $746,000 in 2024; will not be arbitration-eligible until 2027
fWAR in 2024: 0.3
Key 2024 stats: 1-2, 4.12 ERA, 0 saves, 0 holds, 29 strikeouts, 10 walks, 1.35 WHIP, .283 opponent average, 43⅔ innings (26 games)

.389 — The opponent average against Brito’s breaking pitches in 2024, up from .250 as a rookie in 2023 with the Yankees. Opponents also hit better against his fastballs (from .252 to .303) in his first year in San Diego, while the opponent average against his off-speed pitches (.232 to .231) was relatively the same.

Down — Ranked the Yankees’ 30th-best prospect heading into the 2023 season, Brito originally signed out of the Dominican Republic in November 2015, made his MLB debut in April 2023 and made 13 of his 25 appearances as a starting pitcher. After the season, he joined Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Kyle Higashioka and prospect Drew Thorpe on a flight to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade. Brito showed well in spring training (1.93 ERA) but lost the rotation competition to Matt Waldron and was used strictly as a reliever in the majors with the Padres. The role was new. A starting pitcher throughout his climb up the ladder, Brito appeared in just six games beyond the seventh inning as a rookie, but in San Diego he made 12 appearances in the eighth inning and even eight in the ninth inning, largely because the Padres were figuring out how to deploy a new-look bullpen. He had a 4.35 ERA when he was optioned to Triple-A El Paso in late June and was beginning to stretch out as a starter in the minors when he was called up for bullpen coverage in August. The stay lasted just one game as Brito returned to El Paso for one more start (3 IP, 3 ER) and then hit the injured list with an elbow strain that ultimately ended his season with an ugly 9.00 ERA over 14 innings in the minors.

A starting pitcher his entire career until last year, Brito should enter spring training competing for a spot in a rotation that’s lost Joe Musgrove to Tommy John surgery. Brito will have to prove that he’s past the elbow issues that ended his season as well as develop a breaking ball that can get big league hitters out (see stat to note), as his strikeout rate dropped from 7.2 per nine innings as a rookie to 6.0 in 2024 with the Padres.

San Diego Padres Pitcher Jhony Brito On Feb. 20, 2024. (K.c. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Jhony Brito – elcajon newson Elcajon News only