DETROIT — Veteran right-handed reliever John Brebbia, released by the Detroit Tigers in June, has been promoted to the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves selected Brebbia’s contract on Monday from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Brebbia, 35, signed a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $2.75 million with the Tigers at the start of spring training.
Brebbia had a 1.00 ERA with nine strikeouts in nine innings of work before suffering a right triceps strain at the end of April. He allowed 16 runs on 19 hits in 9 2/3 innings after his reinstatement on May 11.
“He is a better pitcher than he showed,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said when Brebbia was DFA’d on June 15. “It just didn’t work out. He’s a good guy and a good teammate. But from a role-filling standpoint, we felt like we had to give an opportunity to somebody else.”
After his release, Brebbia signed a minor-league deal with the Braves and has pitched well for Gwinnett over the last two months, posting a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings with 21 strikeouts and three walks.
Brebbia has been in this situation before.
In 2024, Brebbia was released midseason by the Chicago White Sox — the worst team in baseball — and ended the year with the Braves.
This year’s story appears to be ending the same way, albeit having begun with one of the best teams in baseball.
Brebbia played college ball at Elon University and was selected by the Yankees in the 30th round of the 2011 MLB Draft. After a stint in the Diamondbacks system, he was picked up by the Cardinals in the minor-league phase of the 2015 Rule 5 Draft.
He flourished in St. Louis, posting a 3.14 ERA over 175 innings from 2017–2019. After Tommy John surgery, he chose a big-league deal with the San Francisco Giants over a minor-league offer to remain with the Cardinals. That decision paid off: Brebbia led the National League with 76 appearances in 2022 and posted a career-best strikeout rate in 2023.
He signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the White Sox before the 2024 season but went 0-6 with a 6.29 ERA in 48 2/3 innings before being released.
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