LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers signed right-handed pitcher John Brebbia to a one-year deal with a club option for 2026 on Wednesday, making one more pitching addition on the day pitchers and catchers reported to spring training.
Brebbia will make a base salary of $2.25 million in 2025. His club option for 2026 is worth $4 million. There is a $500,000 buy-out if the club option is not exercised.
The deal also features several incentives:
- $250,000 each for 50, 55, 60 and 65 games pitched
- $250,000 each for 40, 45, 50 and 55 games finished
The escalators for 2026, if the option is picked up, include:
- $500,000 for 65 games pitched
- $1 million for each 45 and 50 games pitched
- $2 million for 55 games finished
Brebbia is coming off a difficult year in which he had a 5.86 ERA in 55 1/3 innings with the White Sox and Braves. He did show improvement in September when he posted a 2.70 ERA with Atlanta.
Brebbia, like starting pitcher Alex Cobb, is another signing who is familiar with Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris from his days with the San Francisco Giants.
Despite Brebbia’s rough 2024, the draw is his ability to generate swing and miss. Brebbia has long displayed an ability to miss bats, averaging 11 K/9 in 2023 with the Giants.
The Tigers are intrigued by Brebbia’s fastball, which averaged 93.8 mph last season and has reached whiff rates as high as 30 percent in past seasons. The fastball has graded out well on Stuff+ plots each season since 2021, finishing at 103 last year.
Brebbia’s slider was worth a dismal minus-17 run value last season, so it’s possible other tweaks to his arsenal could be in store. Regardless of the Tigers’ exact plans, Brebbia is another swing-and-miss arm who will add more competition to what already figures to be a tough battle for spots in the Tigers’ bullpen.
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(Photo: Casey Sykes / Getty Images)
