Jhony

Brito

Brito will miss the remainder of the season and most likely a significant portion of next season as well. The 27-year-old righty made a career-high 26 relief appearances last year for San Diego.

Brito is still recovering from the forearm strain he suffered this spring while recovering from the elbow sprain he picked up in 2024. He won’t be eligible to join the Padres until the end of May.

Brito finished last year on the injured list with a right elbow sprain and will head back to the shelf at the outset of the regular season. It’s unclear when he’ll be ready to rejoin San Diego’s pitching mix.

The contract is for $1 million for 2025 with a $5 million club option for 2026 that can reach up to $7.5 million based on games started. The 32-year-old posted a 2.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and an 182/38 K/BB ratio over 157 innings over 26 starts in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2024. Hart used a new sweeper, a heavier reliance on his changeup, and a new attack plan with his four-seam fastball up in the zone to win the Choi Dong-won Award, which is the KBO equivalent of the Cy Young Award. Hart will enter camp competing for the final spot in the Padres’ rotation with Matt Waldron, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vasquez.

It’s a procedural move that probably shouldn’t be legal but it is. It clears a spot on the 40-man roster to allow the Padres to select the contract of Nick Ahmed rather than having to designate someone for assignment. Brito will compete for a roster spot for the Padres in 2025.

Brito pitched well Saturday with 2 1/3 scoreless frames against the Marlins, but the Padres will go with a fresher arm in the bullpen. In this case, it’s Sean Reynolds, who was recalled in the corresponding transaction.

Brito replaces fellow Juan Soto trade acquisition Randy Vásquez on the roster. He had a 4.25 ERA in 41 1/3 innings out of the Padres pen before being sent down in late June. He returned to the rotation in Triple-A, but he got hurt last month and he had pitched just one inning over two starts since returning, giving up six runs — two earned — and walking five. As a result, we’re guessing this will be a short stay.

Brito, a product of the Juan Soto trade, had spent the entire season in the Padres pen, posting a 4.35 ERA and a 26/9 K/BB in 41 1/3 innings. We’ll see if the Padres stretch him back out as a rotation candidate in Triple-A or if they keep him in the pen and call him up next time there’s a need.

The Dylan Cease acquisition left the Padres with just one opening in the rotation, and the team picked Matt Waldron over Brito and others for the spot. We’re skeptical that Waldron will prove to be the answer there, so maybe Brito will claim a rotation spot in a month or two. In the meantime, Brito figures to bide his time in Triple-A.

Brito appears locked into the fifth spot in San Diego’s season-opening rotation at this moment and put the finishing touches on an impressive spring in this one. The 26-year-old righty doesn’t offer a ton of appeal for fantasy managers outside of deeper mixed leagues and NL-only formats, but he’ll be worth keeping on early-season watch lists as a potential streaming option.