New York Yankees rookie pitcher Jhony Brito takes tough outing in stride: "Nights like this are going to happen in baseball. It's how you come back"
New York Yankees starting pitcher Jhony Brito took the first defeat of his brief major league career in disastrous manner, giving up seven earned runs over just two-thirds of an inning in Thursday's 11-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
The Yankees coughed up nine total runs in the first inning, with Brito being charged with seven. His ERA, which had been at 0.90, ballooned to 6.75.
Jhony Brito on tonight: "Nights like this are going to happen in baseball. It's how you come back. I can tell you tomorrow, I'm going to sit down with the pitching coach and go over video and we're going to make the adjustments. Whatever is necessary."
While an outing like that could ruin a rookie, Brito took the hard lesson in stride, telling Chris Kerschner of The Athletic:
"Nights like this are going to happen in baseball. It's how you come back. I can tell you tomorrow I'm going to sit down with the pitching coach and go over video, and we're going to make the adjustments. Whatever is necessary."
Jhony Brito had won his first two MLB starts for the New York Yankees, blanking the San Francisco Giants 6-0 on April 2 and topping the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 on April 8. However, Minnesota jumped all over him on Thursday, getting more hits on him (six) in 2/3 of an inning than he had in his first two starts (five).
After hitting the showers early, Brito told the New York Daily News:
"You gotta have a positive mind, even though it’s not the outcome you want."
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the Daily News that he is not too concerned about Jhony Brito's rough outing, and that it could actually help him in the long term:
"It’s back to work. He’s got a great head on his shoulders. This is, unfortunately, part of the game. You get punched in the mouth in this game. He’s equipped to handle that. He’ll be fine and learn from it and grow from it."
New York Yankees fallout from Jhony Brito's rough outing
Due to the New York Yankees having to blow through their bullpen because of Jhony Brito's catastrophic start on Thursday, the team was forced to call up reliever Greg Weissert from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to reinforce the bullpen for the weekend.
However, to bring Weissert aboard, the team was forced to designate reliever Colten Brewer — who threw 3-1/3 innings Thursday — for assignment. The team now risks losing Brewer on waivers.