The Rays have signed left-hander Jake Brentz to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on his MLB.com player profile page. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Brentz, 30, was an 11th-round pick by the Blue Jays back in 2013. He was subsequently traded to the Mariners and Pirates early in his minor league career before being released by Pittsburgh in 2019 after struggling at the Triple-A level. The Royals took a chance on the southpaw and signed him to a minor league deal, though he only got 5 1/3 innings of work in for the club at Double-A before the end of the season arrived. His first full season as a Royal was further delayed by the cancelled minor league season in 2020, but the remained firmly in the Royals’ orbit as a player pitching at their alternate site during the 60-game MLB season.
He found enough success between his time at the alternate site and the subsequent Spring Training that he earned a spot in the Royals’ Opening Day bullpen despite not having thrown a pitch at Triple-A as a member of the organization. That didn’t stop Brentz from making a strong first impression in the majors, however, as he pitched to a solid 3.66 ERA in 64 innings of work across 72 games as the Royals’ top left relief option. The lefty’s 13.3% walk rate held him back from becoming a truly elite relief option, but the combination of a 27.3% strikeout rate, a 49% groundball rate, and a 97mph heater from the left side all made Brentz, then 26, an extremely intriguing bullpen option who figured to be a fixture of the Royals relief corps for years to come.
Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass. Instead, Brentz managed just 5 1/3 brutal innings in 2022 where he surrendered 15 runs (14 earned) while walking ten and striking out just nine. Given that disastrous performance, it was hardly a shock when Brentz eventually required UCL reconstruction surgery later in the season. Brentz’s predicament led the Royals to non-tender him in November, but they eventually re-signed him to a two-year deal big league deal that guaranteed him $1.9MM. Unfortunately, Brentz saw his 2023 wiped out by a combination of rehabbing from the previous year’s elbow surgery and a subsequent lat strain.
Brentz was slowed further in his return this year by a hamstring strain in March and looked extremely rusty when he finally made it back to the mound. In 30 innings of work between Double- and Triple-A this year, Brentz posted a brutal 11.40 ERA in 30 innings. He struck out just 18% of opponents while walking an eye-popping 29% and hitting another 7.9% of opponents with pitches. That complete loss of control made it no surprise when the Royals opted to designate Brentz for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot, and he eventually elected free agency following the season in search of opportunities elsewhere.
He’s now found one with the Rays, who are widely considered to be among the very best organizations in baseball for pitcher development. The fit between the two sides is somewhat obvious, as Brentz will have the opportunity to get his career back on track in a development-focused organization while the Rays will have the opportunity to help a once-excellent lefty with obvious potential what made him such an exciting rookie for the Royals back in 2021.
