Brewers and Twins sign pitchers

The Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins have signed pitchers. On Sunday, the Twins signed right-handed relief pitcher Jay Jackson of Greenville, South Carolina according to Rogers Sportsnet, and on Monday, the Brewers signed right-handed pitcher Jakob Junis of Jacksonville, Arkansas to a one-year deal worth $7 million according to Anthony Franco of mlbtraderumors.com. It has been reported that the Brewers might actually put Junis in the starting rotation, even though he only started four times in 40 appearances with the San Francisco Giants in 2023.

Jay Jackson

Jackson is joining his sixth Major League Baseball team. He previously pitched for the San Diego Padres in 2015, the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019, the San Francisco Giants in 2021, the Atlanta Braves in 2022, and the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023. What is fascinating about Jackson is the fact he has pitched for five different teams in five different seasons. Jackson has also spent two different time periods in Japan. He was with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 2016 to 2018, and the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2020.

During the 2023 MLB season in Toronto, Jackson was excellent. He pitched in 25 games, and had a record of three wins and one loss with an earned run average of 2.12. In 29 2/3 innings pitched, Jackson had one hold, and gave up 18 hits, seven earned runs, four home runs, and nine walks, to go along with 27 strikeouts and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.91. Jackson’s hold came in a 6-1 Blue Jays win over the Los Angeles Angels on July 29.

Jakob Junis

Junis is joining his third Major League Baseball team after pitching for the Kansas City Royals from 2017 to 2021, and the Giants in 2022 and 2023. During 86 innings in 2023, Junis had a record of four wins and three losses with an earned run average of 3.87. He had two holds and one save. The holds came in a 7-5 Giants win over the Miami Marlins on May 21 and in an 11-10 Giants win over the Cincinnati Reds on July 18. The save came in a 7-5 Giants win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 16. Junis also pitched 40 games for the Giants in 2023, and gave up 90 hits, 37 earned runs, 12 home runs and 21 walks, to go along with 96 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.29.