The St. Louis Cardinals have added a fresh arm to their bullpen, today announcing the contract purchase of pitcher John Brebbia from Memphis (AAA). When he appears in a game, Brebbia will be making his Major League debut.
In the corresponding roster move, pitcher Miguel Socolovich has been designated for assignment.
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Pronounced “Breh-be-ah”, the right-hander will turn 27 years old next month. He was selected by the Cardinals from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Triple-A phase of the Rule V draft in December of 2015. He split the 2016 season between Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA).
At Memphis, the 6-2, 205-pound reliever was 1-1 with three saves and a 1.69 ERA (26.2 IP) in 15 games (one start) while striking out 29 and walking just five. Brebbia has not allowed a run in his past nine appearances dating back to April 25, striking out 19 in 15.0 IP with just three hits allowed in that span.
For Socolovich, if he clears waivers, he can then be assigned to another team within the Cardinals organization. The 30-year old right-hander has spent parts of the past three seasons with St. Louis. In 15 appearances this season, he was 0-1 with one save and 14 strikeouts in 18.2 innings of work.
Since throwing 3.0 innings of relief on May 8th at Miami, Socolovich has had difficulty in his last four outings–allowing 10 hits in 4.0 innings and 7 earned runs.
Brebbia has been assigned uniform no. 60 and is available to pitch tonight as the Cardinals continue their series in Colorado.
photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports, Bill Greenblatt/UPI
