John Brebbia Elects Free Agency

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.