Former Tigers Reliever Gets Another Chance to Get Career Back on Track

A former Detroit Tigers reliever is getting another shot at the MLB.

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers made several moves heading into the offseason to add some reinforcements to their bullpen.

Some of those moves have panned out better than others. For example, the team received a few months of dominant performances from veteran Tommy Kahnle before his production fell off a cliff. He has looked better after receiving some rest and pitching in lower-leverage situations, throwing three scoreless outings in a row.

At least the Tigers received some positive contributions from him. The same cannot be said about fellow veteran, John Brebbia. Signed as a free agent this past winter, he remained with the club through June 19 before he was given his release.

It was a warranted decision based on his production with the team. He was coming off consecutive outings of allowing three earned runs, so Detroit decided to pull the plug on him. Overall, he made 19 appearances, throwing 18.2 innings with an ugly 7.71 ERA. He did strike out 20 batters, but struggled with his control, issuing 11 walks with a ghastly 11.8% walk rate.

Tigers Former Reliever John Brebbia Earns Shot With Braves

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Brebbia wasn’t a free agent for long. He was signed to a deal by the Atlanta Braves only five days after his release. He has been with Triple-A Gwinnett since that point and has performed very well. Through 15 appearances and 19 innings, he has a stellar 1.89 ERA. He has cut down drastically on the walks, issuing only three, while striking out 21.

That was enough for the Braves to give him another shot at producing in the big leagues. It was announced on Friday morning that they have selected his contract as one of several moves they made. Along with Brebbia, the team recalled Nathan Wiles from Triple-A.

Austin Cox and Wander Suero were optioned to Triple-A as a result. Atlanta was in need of some fresh arms in their bullpen after getting blown out by the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday evening. Cox threw 68 pitches and Suero threw 31, so they were unlikely to be available. Kyle Schwarber single-handily dominated them, launching four home runs and recording nine RBI.

This is a golden opportunity for Brebbia to string together some good performances and get himself on the radar for teams this offseason. He was productive in 2022 and 2023 with the San Francisco Giants with a 3.47 ERA, leading the NL in appearances with 76 in 2022. But he has struggled since, spending time with the Chicago White Sox and the Braves in 2024 before joining the Tigers this year.