Milwaukee Brewers Agree to Contract With Former Giants, Royals Pitcher Jakob Junis
The Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a contract with veteran right-handed pitcher Jakob Junis, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel reported Monday night.
The deal is still pending a physical. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that Junis would be signing a one-year, $7 million contract.
Junis, 31, spent the past two seasons with the San Francisco Giants, but he first made a name for himself with the Kansas City Royals from 2017 to 2021.
In his first four seasons of MLB action, Junis was used almost exclusively as a starter. He won exactly nine games in each of his first three years with the Royals.
After posting a 4.30 ERA as a rookie, however, Junis' ERA climbed in each of the next three seasons until it reached 6.39 in 2020. He was phased out of the starting rotation in 2021 and let go at the end of the season.
Junis signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Giants that March, and he served as a viable part-time starter for the club in 2022. In 23 appearances – 17 of which were starts – Junis put up a 4.42 ERA, 1.295 WHIP, 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.6 WAR.
San Francisco brought Junis back on a one-year, $2.8 million contract for 2023, and he rewarded them with a career year out of the bullpen. Junis made 40 appearances, only starting four games, finishing the season with a 3.87 ERA, 1.291 WHIP, 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.8 WAR.
For his career, Junis is 38-45 with a 4.64 ERA, 1.336 WHIP, 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a 7.2 WAR.
The Brewers have overhauled their rotation this offseason, non-tendering Brandon Woodruff in November and trading former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles last week. Milwaukee got back former top pitching prospect DL Hall in the Burnes deal, but they were still down one starter.
Junis is certainly a candidate to fill that role, although the Brewers' bullpen could also use some reinforcements after they dealt former first round pick Ethan Small to the Giants earlier Monday night.
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