Jake Brigham

Jacob Daniel Brigham

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 210 lb.
• High School Central Florida Christian Academy
• Debut June 30, 2015
• Final Game August 30, 2015
• Born February 10, 1988 in Winter Garden, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jake Brigham made 12 appearances with the Atlanta Braves in 2015. He is the nephew of Ron Karkovice.

Brigham led Central Florida high schoolers with 141 strikeouts in 2005 and was named All-State Class A. He was 7-2 with a 0.71 ERA as a senior and was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 6th round of the 2006 amateur draft; the scout was Guy DeMutis. Jake had a couple of solid seasons in 2006 and 2007 in the lower reaches of the Ranger system as a starter. He was 2-6 with a 3.70 ERA for the 2006 AZL Rangers, tying for third in the Arizona League in losses. He improved to 5-4, 3.16 for the 2007 Spokane Indians, finishing second in the Texas chain in ERA and among the Northwest League leaders in ERA (4th, between T.J. Brewer and Derek Holland), innings (4th, 77) and hit batsmen (3rd, 11). Baseball America rated him the 20th-best prospect in the league. Jake missed the entire 2008 season after Tommy John surgery, and when he resumed pitching in 2009 he was not as sharp. That year, he was 2-11, 5.52 with the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League. Only Richard Bleier had more losses among Rangers minor leaguers and he tied for 4th in the SAL in defeats (behind Kyle Greenwalt, Brad Hand and Andrew Brackman). Had he not shown great potential in earlier years, he would likely have been released, but instead returned to repeat the level in 2010. He began the season with the Bakersfield Blaze of the California League but struggled (1-5, 6.93 in 11 games) and was demoted to Hickory, where he was 6-5, 3.36 in 14 games.

Despite his struggles in the California League, Jacob started 2011 in Double A, with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League. He was 6-6, 4.49 as a swingman, striking out 114 in 114 1/3 innings and allowing a .244 average but walking 55. That kind of performance meant that he was back with the same team in 2012. Now back to starting full-time, he did somewhat better, going 5-5 with a 4.28 ERA in 21 starts, showing some talent as an innings-eater as he had passed both his innings and strikeout totals from the previous year with a month still to go. On July 30th, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Geovany Soto in a deadline deal. With the Tennessee Smokies, he made 2 starts to the tune of a 19.64 ERA and hit the injured list for the remainder of the season. The Cubbies flipped him back to Texas for Barret Loux in November, at which time the Rangers non-tendered him and signed him to a new minor league deal. He made 33 appearances between Double A Frisco and Triple A Round Rock Express in 2013 and was a free agent on season's end. Jake signed a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates for 2014 and spent the majority of his season with the Indianapolis Indians (3-5, 4.29) in 18 games (14 starts).

Once again a free agent, Jake signed with the Atlanta Braves to another minor league pact in 2015. With solid numbers at Double A Mississippi and Triple A Gwinnett, he reached the major leagues and made his debut on June 30, pitching 3 innings against the Washington Nationals. In 12 relief appearances, he finished 0-1, 8.64 with an 8/12 BB/K in 16 2/3 innings. A free agent once more, Jake tried his luck in Japan with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, pitching to an 0-3, 5.24 line in 11 games (4 starts). He signed with the Detroit Tigers for 2017 and was sold to the Nexen Heroes of the KBO. Brigham seemed to find his niche there, starting slow in 2017 (10-6, 4.38 with 98 strikeouts in 144 innings) before breaking out in 2018 (11-7, 3.84 and 175 strikeouts in 199 innings in 2018). He was 6th in ERA (between Merrill Kelly and Seth Frankoff), tied for 10th in wins and was 4th in strikeouts (between Brooks Raley and Dustin Nippert). Back in the KBO with the newly renamed Kiwoom Heroes, he matched his strong 2018 in 2019 (13-5, 2.96, 130 strikeouts in 158 1/3 innings), finishing 7th in in ERA (between Tyler Wilson and Drew Rucinski) and tied for 8th in wins (with Eric Jokisch, Woo-chan Cha and William Cuevas). This earned him a new one year, $950K deal for 2020.

Primary Source: 2012 Rangers Media Guide

Related Sites

• Jake Brigham on mlb.com
• BR Minors page