Padres roster review: Jhony Brito

Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 28
Height / Weight: 6-foot-2 / 210 pounds
How acquired: Via trade with the New York Yankees in December 2023
Contract status: Will not be arbitration-eligible until 2027 at the earliest
fWAR in 2025: 0
Key 2025 stats: Did not pitch (injured)

6.32 — Brito’s ERA in 13 career starts in the majors, compared to 2.88 in 81⅓ innings out of the bullpen. Brito made all 13 starts for the Yankees in 2023 and then pitched exclusively in relief for the Padres, posting a 4.12 ERA across 43⅔ innings while moving between the majors and minors. Brito had a 1.43 ERA in 37⅔ innings out of the Yankees’ bullpen in 2023.

Down — Brito’s season was wiped away before it got started as he opened the season on the injured list with a forearm strain and ultimately underwent both an internal brace surgery to address his UCL and a flexor tendon repair. The injury was not a shock as Brito finished the 2024 season on the 60-day injured list after the Padres briefly began to stretch him out as a starting pitching option late in the year. Before that, Brito spent much of his first year in the organization pitching out of the Padres’ bullpen after losing that spring’s rotation competition to knuckleballer Matt Waldron. Brito wasn’t nearly as successful in that role (see stat to note) as he had been as a rookie reliever with the Yankees, who packaged him with Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Kyle Higashioka and prospect Drew Thorpe in the deal that pried Juan Soto away from the Padres after the 2023 season.

More than likely, Brito’s rehab will carry into the 2026 season. He has been much better as a reliever than a starter in his brief time in the majors, but the Padres have a need for starting pitching at the upper levels, so it will be interesting to see what is asked of Brito as he returns from major surgery this year.