John Brebbia


John Fulboam Brebbia is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

Early life and amateur career

Brebbia grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts, and attended Sharon High School through his junior year. He transferred to Wellington High School in Wellington, Florida for his senior year to improve his chances of earning a college baseball scholarship. As a senior at Wellington, he had a 10–1 win-loss record with a 0.83 earned run average, and recorded an 18-strikeout game.
After graduating from Wellington, Brebbia attended Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, where he was a pitcher for the Elon Phoenix baseball team. During his freshman year, Brebbia helped the Phoenix secure an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. In 2011, his junior year, he went 7-1 with a 1.76 ERA in 27 relief appearances. In 2010 and 2011, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Professional career

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees selected Brebbia in the 30th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He signed and made his professional debut that same season with the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League, where he was 0–1 with a 0.00 ERA in eight innings. He spent 2012 with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League, and pitched to a 3–1 record and 2.96 ERA in 29 relief appearances, and 2013 with Charleston and the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League; he was a combined 0–5 with a 4.06 ERA in innings pitched in relief. The Yankees released him in December 2013.

American Association/Arizona Diamondbacks

Brebbia played the 2014 and 2015 seasons in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, for the Sioux Falls Canaries and Laredo Lemurs, before signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks in September 2015.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals selected Brebbia from the Diamondbacks in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft at the 2015 Winter Meetings. In 2016, Brebbia played with both the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League and Memphis Redbirds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He was 5–5 with a 5.03 ERA in 43 games.
Brebbia began the 2017 season with Memphis. The Cardinals promoted Brebbia to the major leagues on May 27, 2017. He was 1–1 with a 1.69 ERA in innings pitched for Memphis prior to his promotion. He made his major league debut against the Colorado Rockies on May 28. He remained with the team for the rest of the season, and he finished his 2017 rookie campaign with a 2.44 ERA, 51 strikeouts in innings, and a 0.93 WHIP. He began 2018 with Memphis, and was recalled to St. Louis and optioned back to Memphis multiple times during the season. In 45 relief appearances for St. Louis, he was 3–3 with a 3.20 ERA, striking out sixty batters in innings pitched.
On October 29, 2018, Brebbia was selected to the MLB All-Star team at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series.
Brebbia returned to St. Louis' bullpen for the 2019 season. Over 66 appearances during the regular season, he went 3-4 with a 3.59 ERA, striking out 87 batters over relief innings.
On June 3, 2020, Brebbia underwent Tommy John surgery, causing him to be out for the 2020 season.

Personal

Brebbia and his wife, Amanda, welcomed their first child, a son, in June 2019.