Major Breaking: Mets veteran slugger joins rival team in Blockbuster
As they look for bullpen stability, the Arizona Diamondbacks are anticipated to bring up veteran reliever Jeff Brigham, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro. According to Gambadoro, the D-backs sent reliever Kevin Ginkel to Triple-A Reno. After pitching 10 innings in 13 games with a 12.60 ERA and 2.10 WHIP, Ginkel is headed to the minor leagues. In that time, he walked seven and struck out fifteen. Brigham pitched for the Miami Marlins from 2018 to 22 before joining the New York Mets in 2023.
With Triple-A Reno this season, he’s posted a 5.23 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and struck out 32 batters to nine walks over 20.2 innings. Batters are hitting .213 against him in his 17 appearances in Reno.
In December, the Diamondbacks signed Brigham to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training. Brigham is 33 years old and joins the organization with 90 career major league appearances between the Marlins and Mets. The right-hander tossed 37.2 innings for New York in 2023, producing 5.26 ERA while striking out 10 batters per nine innings. He threw a three-pitch mix, using primarily sweepers (42.2%) along with a 93.5 mph, four-seam fastball and a new cutter, according to Baseball Savant.
Opponents hit .143 with a 30.2% whiff rate when facing the sweeper but found more success against his other fastballs in 2023. His 11.3% walk rate did not help.
New York non-tendered Brigham, who signed with the Minnesota Twins for the 2024 season. He spent the year in Triple-A St. Paul, where he worked a 4.64 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched.
