Jacob Daniel Brigham (born February 10, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2015 with the Atlanta Braves, and has also played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Nexen / Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League and for the Wei Chuan Dragons in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).

Jake Brigham
Brigham at Osan Air Base in 2019
Free agent
Starting pitcher
Born: (1988-02-10) February 10, 1988 (age 36)
Winter Garden, Florida, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: June 30, 2015, for the Atlanta Braves
NPB: April 14, 2016, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
KBO: May 18, 2017, for the Kiwoom Heroes
CPBL: March 19, 2021, for the Wei Chuan Dragons
MLB statistics
(through 2015 season)
Win–loss record0–1
Earned run average8.64
Strikeouts12
NPB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Win–loss record0–3
Earned run average5.24
Strikeouts27
KBO statistics
(through 2021 season)
Win–loss record50–26
Earned run average3.63
Strikeouts557
CPBL statistics
(through 2023 season)
Win–loss record26-16
Earned run average2.37
Strikeouts227
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards
CPBL

Career

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Texas Rangers

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Brigham attended Central Florida Christian Academy in Orlando, Florida, where he played for the school's baseball team.[1][2] He pitched a no-hitter in 2005, his junior season, against West Oak, though he allowed two unearned runs.[3] The Texas Rangers drafted Brigham in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.[4] They added him to their 40-man roster after the 2011 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[5]

Chicago Cubs

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In July 2012, Brigham was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Geovany Soto.[6]

Second Stint with Rangers

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He was traded back to the Rangers for Barret Loux on November 20, 2012.[7] He was non tendered by the Rangers on November 30[8] and became a free agent, but re-signed with the Rangers on a minor league contract.[9]

Brigham became a free agent again after the 2013 season.[10]

Pittsburgh Pirates

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He signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization for the 2014 season.[11]

Atlanta Braves

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He signed with the Atlanta Braves' organization prior to the 2015 season. Brigham was called up to the majors for the first time on June 27, 2015.[12][13] Brigham made his Major League debut on June 30, 2015, pitching three innings against the Washington Nationals while striking out four batters and allowing only one hit.[14] He elected free agency on November 6.[15]

Detroit Tigers

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On December 11, 2015, Brigham signed a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers.[16]

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

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On December 18, 2015, the Tigers sold Brigham's rights to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.[17]

Detroit Tigers (second stint)

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On January 10, 2017, Brigham signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers.[18]

Nexen/Kiwoom Heroes

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On May 4, 2017, Brigham signed a contract with the Nexen Heroes of the KBO League.[19] Brigham signed a $650,000 contract for the 2018 season with the Heroes on November 24, 2017.[20] On November 23, 2018, Brigham re-signed to a $900,000 contract with the team, now named the Kiwoom Heroes, for the 2019 season.[21] Brigham posted a 13–5 record with a 2.96 ERA over 158.1 innings in 2019.[22] On December 9, 2019, Brigham re-signed with Kiwoom for the 2020 season on a $950,000 contract.[22] Following the 2020 season, the Heroes announced they would part ways with Brigham, and he became a free agent.

Wei Chuan Dragons

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On December 26, 2020, Brigham signed with the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2021 season.[23] On March 19, 2021, Brigham made his CPBL debut. Through his first four starts with the Dragons, Brigham pitched to a 0.42 ERA and 0.78 WHIP over 21.2 innings of work.[24]

Kiwoom Heroes (second stint)

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On April 15, 2021, Brigham's contract was purchased by the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League.[25] In 10 starts, Brigham posted a 7–3 record with a 2.95 ERA. On September 4, 2021, Brigham parted ways with the club for personal reasons.[26]

Wei Chuan Dragons (second stint)

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On January 5, 2022, Brigham re-signed with the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.[27] He made 29 starts for Wei Chuan in 2022, logging a 12-9 record and 2.71 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 182.1 innings pitched.

On May 9, 2023, it was announced that Brigham would miss 6-8 weeks after suffering a hairline fracture in his left foot.[28] He became a free agent following the 2023 season.

Personal life

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Brigham and his wife, Taylor, have three daughters and a son [29] He is the nephew of former White Sox catcher Ron Karkovice.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "CFCA's Brigham gets attention". Orlando Sentinel. April 24, 2002. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  2. ^ Carter, Andrew (May 2, 2006). "CFCA has army of top-notch pitchers". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  3. ^ "CFCA's Brigham throws no-hitter". Orlando Sentinel. May 7, 2005. p. D.7. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  4. ^ Carter, Andrew (June 7, 2006). "Sapp drafted 23rd by Astros". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "Rangers add five former 'Dads to 40-Man Roster". MILB.com. November 21, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  6. ^ Grant, Evan (July 31, 2012). "Rangers announce acquisition of Geovany Soto". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Cubs trade Jake Brigham back to Rangers for Barret Loux, player to be named". MLB.com. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  8. ^ "Rangers do not tender contracts to Soto, Snyder, Brigham". MLB.com. November 30, 2012. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  9. ^ Davison, Drew. "Spring break: After brief stint in Chicago, Jake Brigham is back with Texas". Star-Telegram. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  10. ^ "The Dallas Morning News | Options". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  11. ^ "Pirates sign five minor league free agents". Pittsburgh Pirates. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  12. ^ "2015 M-Brave Jake Brigham promoted to Atlanta". msnewsnow.com. June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  13. ^ Bowman, Mark (June 27, 2015). "Braves call up Brigham to join bullpen". Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  14. ^ Bowman, Mark (July 1, 2015). "After long wait, Brigham dazzles in debut". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "International League Transactions". milb.com. p. November 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  16. ^ Jahnke, James (December 11, 2015). "Tigers sign 17 minor leaguers, invite 6 to camp". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  17. ^ Fenech, Anthony (December 18, 2015). "Tigers sell Jake Brigham's rights to Japanese team". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  18. ^ Beck, Jason (January 10, 2017). "Tigers sign Minors contracts with 22 players". MLB.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  19. ^ "Nexen Heroes acquire ex-MLB pitcher Brigham". Yonhap News Agency. May 4, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  20. ^ Adams, Steve (November 24, 2017). "Michael Choice, Jake Brigham Re-Sign With KBO's Nexen Heroes". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  21. ^ "Nexen Heroes sign new foreign pitcher, retain two foreign players". Yonhap News Agency. November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Yoo Jee-ho (December 9, 2019). "Kiwoom Heroes bring back pitcher Jake Brigham for 4th season". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  23. ^ "Dragons Sign Jake Brigham, Drew Gagnon, Junichi Tazawa". CPBLStats.com. December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  24. ^ @GOCPBL (April 6, 2021). "According to Korean media, the Wei Chuan Dragons have only signed Jake Brigham to a monthly contract and several KB…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ "KBO club Heroes reacquire pitcher Jake Brigham". Yonhap News Agency. April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  26. ^ "KBO club Heroes part ways with pitcher Jake Brigham". Yonhap News Agency. September 4, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  27. ^ "Dragons Re-Sign Bryan Woodall, Jake Brigham for 2022 Season". CPBLStats.com. January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  28. ^ "Dragons' Jake Brigham Undergoes Foot Surgery". cpblstats.com. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  29. ^ Ryzewski, Steven (June 30, 2015). "CFCA alum Jake Brigham gets call to pitch for Atlanta Braves". West Orange Times & Observer. Observer Media Group. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  30. ^ "Game Notes, April 20 vs. Frisco". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. April 20, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
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