The Padres are keeping Jhony Brito in long relief, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). While not especially surprising, that takes him out of the competition for the fifth starter spot.
Brito has spent most of his career in the Yankees organization. He reached the big leagues with New York in 2023 after seven seasons in the minors. The righty started 13 of 25 appearances as a rookie, working to a 4.28 ERA through 90 1/3 innings. The Padres acquired him during the following offseason as one of the ancillary players in their five-player return for Juan Soto. San Diego prioritized upper level starting pitching. Michael King jumped right into their rotation, while prospect Drew Thorpe was flipped a few months later in the Dylan Cease trade.
Randy Vásquez and Brito profiled as upper level rotation depth. Vásquez started 20 games last year, turning in a 4.87 ERA over 98 frames. Brito never cracked the big league rotation. He made 26 appearances out of Shildt’s bullpen. He allowed 4.12 earned runs per nine with a well below-average 15.7% strikeout rate over 43 2/3 innings. Brito did start all six appearances that he made with Triple-A El Paso. Opposing lineups tagged him for 17 runs over 14 innings. An elbow strain ended his season in August.
Brito is back to health and has taken the ball three times this spring. He has given up three runs in as many innings with one strikeout and walk apiece. The 27-year-old is vying for a multi-inning role, which opened up with Bryan Hoeing expected to begin the season on the injured list. Hoeing is battling shoulder soreness and hasn’t pitched this spring. Brito still has an option remaining and would head back to El Paso if he doesn’t win the long relief job.
Barring a long shot trade of Cease or King, they’ll lead Shildt’s starting staff. Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta are locked into the next two spots. The competition for the #5 role is seemingly down to Kyle Hart, Matt Waldron, Vásquez, and Stephen Kolek. The Friars signed Hart to a $1.5MM free agent deal after he posted a 2.69 ERA in Korea. Waldron, a knuckleballer, held a rotation spot for most of last year. He pitched well early on but was rocked for nearly a run per inning after the All-Star Break. Kolek allowed a 5.21 ERA while working out of the bullpen as a Rule 5 pick. He’s building back up as a starter and can be optioned after the Padres carried him on their MLB roster for all of last season.
To start the season, not for the entire season. With Hoeing and Reynolds out to start the season the Padres will need Brito to be the long reliever. It also means Brito has made the OD roster.
I audibly said “for now” after quietly reading the headline…
How long is Reynolds out for? And what is his injury?
Small fracture in his foot, back maybe late April?
Team might shy away from Waldron after yesterday. Vásquez seems on the outside and Hart or Kolek seems to be the competition.
Pods had been putting on the Ritz the last few seasons. But it appears they’ve changed up the menu some. Out with the Taco. In with the Brito.
The Padres are unknowingly misallocating assets by keeping Jhony Brito in relief instead of converting him into a trade piece via starting reps. Brito’s pitch-to-contact style isn’t ideal for high-leverage relief, and his low strikeout rate suggests he lacks the dominant stuff to be a late-inning weapon. However, teams will always pay for starting depth, even if the results are mediocre.
By keeping Brito in long relief, San Diego is burning service time and suppressing his potential trade value. If instead, they stretched him out as a starter—either in Triple-A or via spot starts—he could be flipped midseason to a pitching-needy team for a meaningful return. The irony is that his current skill set (low K rate, solid control) is exactly what back-end rotation buyers seek at the deadline.
The sharpest move? Start him in Triple-A, let him eat innings, and move him at peak demand in July. Keeping him in a low-leverage bullpen role is a wasting asset strategy, which is the kind of inefficiency that separates great front offices from average ones.