The Rockies announced that veteran reliever John Brebbia went unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency. Colorado designated him for assignment on Wednesday when they brought up former first-rounder Gabriel Hughes.
Brebbia signed a minor league deal in late May and spent a couple weeks on Colorado’s big league roster. He got into three games, allowing five runs on seven hits across 4 1/3 innings. He recorded two strikeouts while working mostly with his slider and a fastball that averaged 92 mph. This was Brebbia’s ninth season logging some time at the MLB level.
The 36-year-old righty owns a 4.12 earned run average in a little less than 400 MLB innings. He was a solid middle reliever for the Cardinals and Giants early in his career but has bounced as a journeyman over the last few seasons. Brebbia has had a tougher time of keeping the ball in the park and has seen his velocity wane into his mid-30s.
There’s a decent chance Colorado brings him back on another minor league contract. Brebbia has mostly split the season between the Triple-A affiliates of the Twins and Rox. He has worked 29 1/3 innings of 4.30 ERA ball while striking out 29% of batters faced at the top minor league level.
