Jhony Rafael Brito (born February 17, 1998) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Career

New York Yankees

Brito signed with the

as an international free agent on November 9, 2015. He made his professional debut in 2016 with the

Dominican Summer League Yankees The Dominican Summer Yankees are a minor league baseball team in the Dominican Summer League. The team plays in the Boca Chica South division and is affiliated with the New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional b ...

. Brito spent the 2017 season with the Low-A

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pl ...

, making three scoreless starts and with eight

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s He underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

later that season, ending his year and causing him to miss the entirety of the 2018 season as well. He returned in 2019 to play with the Single-A Charleston River Dogs, appearing in 22 games (9 starts) and posting a 6–4

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

and 3.58

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) with 79 strikeouts and two saves in

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. Brito did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021 he split the year between the High-A

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

and Double-A

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

, making 22 starts in total and registering a 7–7 record and 3.55 ERA with 118 strikeouts in innings pitched. Brito spent the 2022 season with Somerset and the Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders, are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

, pitching to a cumulative 11–4 record and 2.96 ERA with 91 strikeouts in innings across 26 games (23 starts). On November 10, 2022, the Yankees selected Brito to the 40-man roster to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Brito was initially optioned to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the 2023 season. However, after Luis Severino suffered a lat injury, Brito was added to the major league rotation to begin the year. He made his major league debut on April 2. On May 20, Brito was optioned to Triple-A Scranton to make space on the roster for Severino's return.

San Diego Padres

On December 6, 2023, the Yankees traded Brito, Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vásquez, and

Kyle Higashioka Kyle “Higgy” Harris Higashioka (born April 20, 1990) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees and San ...

to the

in exchange for

Juan Soto Juan José Soto Pacheco (born October 25, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, and New York Y ...

and

Trent Grisham Trenton Marcus Grisham (''né'' Clark; born November 1, 1996) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Pad ...

. He made 26 appearances for the Padres in 2024, recording a 4.12 ERA with 29 strikeouts across innings pitched. Brito suffered an injury while playing with the Triple–A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team based in El Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Sou ...

, which was later specified as a right elbow strain. He was placed on the 60–day injured list on September 22, 2024, ending his season. On April 3, 2025, Brito was placed back on the 60-day injured list with a right forearm strain. On May 12, the Padres announced that Brito had undergone an internal brace surgery to address his UCL as well as a flexor tendon repair. He was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the season and likely part of the 2026 campaign.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brito, Jhony 1998 births Living people Charleston RiverDogs players Dominican Summer League Yankees players El Paso Chihuahuas players Gulf Coast Yankees players Hudson Valley Renegades players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen New York Yankees players San Diego Padres players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Somerset Patriots players Baseball players from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Staten Island Yankees players Toros del Este players