Yankees starter Jhony Brito walked out to the mound at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night with a career ERA of .090. The 39,024-strong crowd in the Bronx cheered, hoping for another excellent performance by the young pitcher, who won hearts do after two great starts to the season.
About 30 minutes later, Jhony Brito got off the mound with a 6.75 ERA. When the Twins hit around and gave up seven runs to the promising right-hander, fans booed loudly. The Yankees pitching confidence stumbled to such a low that utility player Isiah Kiner- Falefa was given the ball to have his first pitching in his career.
Jhony Brito undid his record
The Yankees started the season with four consecutive series wins. It was a beautiful, warm spring night, and the crowd was cheering for them. Less than 30 minutes after the first pitch in The Bronx, cheers turned to boos as the Twins hit three home runs in a row during an inning by Jhony Brito and the game never seemed to end.
Jhony Brito had been great in his first two starts, but in his third start, he was out after giving up seven runs on 34 pitches in the first inning, which took 28 minutes and ended with the Yankees down 9-0. According to statistician Katie Sharp, it was the first time since June 18, 2000, that the Yankees gave up nine or more runs in the first inning of a game.
“If you look at the outing, I was falling behind a lot of hitters there,” Jhony Brito later told. “A lot of my pitches were not in the zone. When I was forced to get back in the zone, they were ready to hit. You’ve got to give them credit. They’ve got a good team.”
The Twins put runners on first and second with no outs against Jhony Brito. Trevor Larnach’s sacrifice fly scored the first run, which only made things worse. Before Donovan Solano’s double, Jose Miranda’s double put two runs on the board. Nick Gordon grounded out, which was Jhony Brito’s second and last out. Christian Vazquez then hit a double to center, making the score 5-0.
With two outs in the first, No. 9 batter Michael A. Taylor hit Jhony Brito’s 34th and final pitch for a two-run home run to straightaway center field. In his first 10 innings with the Yankees, the pitcher had only given up one earned run and five hits. All of a sudden, he couldn’t get out of the first inning in his third start.
Taylor hit a 418-foot home run to center that drove in two runs. This ended Jhony Brito’s short and chaotic night, and his ERA went from 0.90 to 6.75.
“It was a tough night,” catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “We couldn’t really get the sinker in and were having trouble getting the changeup down. They were just jumping on every single mistake.”
Jhony Brito left, but the bats of the Twins did not.
Why Brito was not at his best
Jhony Brito is in the rotation because Frankie Montas, Carlos Rodon, and Luis Severino are out with injuries. The youngster had a great spring and only gave up one run in 10 innings against the Giants and Orioles in his first games in the major leagues. When Jhony Brito pitched for the first time a few weeks ago, the Giants’ average exit speed was 80 miles per hour. In Brito’s second start, the Orioles hit the ball at an average speed of 88.4 mph. On Thursday, it went up to 96.9 mph when the Twins blasted him all over the stadium.
Jhony Brito, who won admiration for pitching two well-controlled games, got only two outs in the top of his third, which took 28 minutes. The 25-year-old rookie was out after giving up seven runs on 34 pitches in the first inning, which took 28 minutes and ended with the Yankees down 9-0.
Boone said Jhony Brito’s problems were because he left too many pitches over the plate, including a sinker that was too high. Brito, on the other hand, said that he fell behind early in the counts and that his signature changeup didn’t move like it usually does.
Boone also said that he thinks the young pitcher will learn from his first hard game in the long run.
Overall, Jhony Brito gave up six hits, seven runs that were earned, one walk, and one home run. The Twins hit both his sinker and fastball, and he only got two outs.
Time to learn and bounce back
Jhony Brito’s two wins in his first two starts in the Major League were helped by the fact that he was calm and sure of himself. Now, the Yankees’ right-handed pitcher has to show that he can get back on track after a bad game.
Jhony Brito was hit hard for seven runs in the first inning on Thursday, and the Yankees lost 11-2 to the Twins at Yankee Stadium. Brito took the loss.
“It’s back to work,” the skipper said. “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.”
It was basically an audition, and Jhony Brito did so well that he was put on the Opening Day roster. He got all 16 Toronto batters out. Even though Brito pitched in the spring, Thursday’s game was the first time the Yankees’ staff and players saw him hit hard in a game.
“You gotta have a positive mind, even though it’s not the outcome you want,” Jhony Brito said. “Nights like this, they’re gonna happen in baseball. It’s how you come back, and I can tell you that tomorrow, I’m gonna sit down with pitching coach [Matt Blake] and we’re gonna go over video and we’re gonna make the adjustments, whatever may be necessary.”
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