Career Stats
Regular Season
| Year | G | GS | W | L | SV | IP | H | ER | K | BB | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 25 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 90.1 | 82 | 43 | 72 | 28 | 4.28 | 1.22 |
| Career | 25 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 90.1 | 82 | 43 | 72 | 28 | 4.28 | 1.22 |
Career-best seasons highlighted in gold. Stats via Retrosheet.
Jhony Brito was a pitcher who played for the New York Yankees in 2023. Career stats: 9-7 record, 4.28 ERA, 72 strikeouts.
Jhony Brito is the answer to a trivia question you didn't know you needed: who's the guy the New York Yankees traded for Juan Soto that nobody outside the organization had heard of before spring training 2023? Not a top prospect, just a 25-year-old righty who'd rebuilt himself after Tommy John surgery and got handed a rotation spot because half the real rotation was hurt. He made the most of it, and ten months later he was a Padre -- one of five players it took to get Soto to the Bronx.
The Long Way Up
Brito signed with the Yankees as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic on November 9, 2015 -- no fanfare, just another arm in the system. He debuted in the Dominican Summer League in 2016, made three scoreless starts at Low-A Staten Island in 2017, and then Tommy John surgery wiped out 2018 entirely.
He climbed back quietly. In 2021, split between High-A and Double-A, he went 7-7 with a 3.55 ERA and 118 K in 116.2 innings. In 2022, he combined for an 11-4 record and a 2.96 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A, earning a "Best Control" nod from Baseball America among the whole farm system (a nerd stat, but the kind that actually predicted something). That November, the Yankees added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
The Debut Nobody Saw Coming
Spring training 2023 fell apart for the Yankees rotation fast -- Frankie Montas needed shoulder surgery, Carlos Rodon strained his forearm, Luis Severino went down with a lat injury. That's a freakin' disaster before Opening Day, and somebody in Triple-A was about to get a phone call.
Brito got the ball April 2, 2023, against the Giants at the Stadium. Five scoreless innings, two hits, six strikeouts, one walk, the win in a 6-0 game -- just the 4th Yankee since World War II to debut with five-plus scoreless innings, joining Luis Gil, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Sam Militello. Not a bad group for your first day in the big leagues.
The rest of the year was the real minor-league-journeyman experience -- optioned to Triple-A on May 20 for Severino's return, recalled July 31 to spot-start for an ailing Domingo German. By the end of it, he'd made 25 appearances (13 starts), gone 9-7 with a 4.28 ERA across 90.1 innings, and struck out 72. His nine wins tied Clarke Schmidt for second on the whole staff -- behind only Gerrit Cole. Not a superstar season. A genuinely useful one.
Traded for Juan Soto
Then came December 6, 2023. The Yankees, deep into the Winter Meetings in Nashville, sent Brito along with Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, and Kyle Higashioka to San Diego for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham. Brito wasn't the centerpiece -- King was the headliner, Thorpe the top pitching prospect -- but he was still a big-league-caliber arm the Yankees decided they could live without for the best hitter not named Aaron Judge on the planet. (When Brian Cashman gives up five useful players for one year of a superstar, you know exactly how badly he wanted him.)
Brito made San Diego's Opening Day roster in 2024, put up a 4.12 ERA over 43.2 innings, then hit the injured list with a right elbow strain in September. UCL surgery followed in April 2025 (his second reconstructive elbow procedure since signing, if you're counting), wiping out the whole season. San Diego tendered him a contract anyway in March 2026 -- a one-year, $791,500 deal -- and after a shaky, shut-down-early spring, he rehabbed through Triple-A El Paso and returned to the majors on July 6, 2026, nearly two years removed from his last big-league appearance. He's spent the stretch run working out of the Padres bullpen. (Not bad for a guy some fans probably assumed had quietly retired.)
Brito will never get a plaque or a bobblehead night. What he'll get is a footnote -- the guy whose name shows up next to Michael King and Kyle Higashioka every time somebody rehashes the Soto trade. That's fine. Not every Yankees career needs a monument, and this one's still finding new innings to pitch.
| Yankees Seasons | 2023 |
| Games (Starts) | 25 (13) |
| Record | 9-7 |
| ERA | 4.28 |
| Innings Pitched | 90.1 |
| Strikeouts | 72 |
| Walks | 28 |
| WHIP | 1.22 |
| Saves | 1 |
Signed as International Free Agent
Brito signs with the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic, the start of a seven-year climb through the minors.
MLB Debut
Five scoreless innings against the Giants at the Stadium -- 2 H, 6 K, 1 BB, the win in a 6-0 Yankees victory. Just the 4th Yankee since WWII to debut with 5+ scoreless frames.
Rotation Depth in a Pinch
Bounces between the Bronx and Triple-A Scranton, finishing 9-7 with a 4.28 ERA across 25 games (13 starts) -- his wins tie for 2nd on the staff behind only Gerrit Cole.
Traded to the Padres
Sent to San Diego with Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, and Kyle Higashioka in the trade that brings Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankees.
UCL Surgery, Lost Season
Undergoes UCL internal brace surgery with a flexor tendon repair after an elbow strain ended his 2024 season, missing the entire 2025 season.
Back in the Majors
Returns to San Diego's bullpen for the first time in nearly two years after rehabbing through Triple-A El Paso, part of a Padres relief corps down the stretch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jhony Brito?
Jhony Brito is a right-handed pitcher who spent the 2023 season with the Yankees, going 9-7 with a 4.28 ERA across 25 games (13 starts) as rotation depth. He was traded to the San Diego Padres that December as part of the five-player package -- alongside Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, and Kyle Higashioka -- that brought Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to New York.
Was Jhony Brito part of the Juan Soto trade?
Yes. On December 6, 2023, the Yankees traded Brito along with Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, and Kyle Higashioka to the Padres for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham. Brito wasn't the centerpiece -- that was King -- but he was a real big-league arm the Yankees included in the price.
What happened to Jhony Brito after he was traded?
Brito made San Diego's Opening Day roster in 2024 and posted a 4.12 ERA over 43.2 innings before a right elbow strain ended his season in September. He had UCL internal brace surgery in April 2025 and missed the entire season, then worked his way back through Triple-A El Paso and returned to the Padres' bullpen on July 6, 2026.
What was Jhony Brito's MLB debut like?
About as good as a debut gets. On April 2, 2023, against the Giants, he threw five scoreless innings with six strikeouts and picked up the win in a 6-0 Yankees victory -- making him just the 4th Yankee since World War II to debut with five or more scoreless innings.
Somewhere in San Diego right now, Jhony Brito is throwing an inning out of the Padres bullpen, two elbow surgeries and a whole lot of Triple-A bus rides removed from that first scoreless start against the Giants. In the Bronx, he's a name Yankees fans mostly remember for what he was traded for, not what he actually did. Both of those things can be true, and neither one erases a genuinely good debut on a Sunday afternoon in April 2023.