Meet The New Guy: Brennan Bernardino

Who is he and where did he come from?

He’s Brennan Bernardino, and just thinking about Jerry Remy trying to say his name makes me both sad and happy. The Red Sox picked him up off waivers after he was released by the Seattle Mariners.

What position does he play?

Well, according to his Baseball Reference bio, he’s a relief pitcher/center fielder/left fielder. That’s cool as hell! Who needs, Shohei Ohtani, we’ve got our own two-way star!

Unfortunately, that Baseball Reference bio is fake news. Bernardino has taken just two at-bats in his entire professional career and is very much strictly a reliever.

Is he any good?

Well, he’s a relief pitcher who was recently on waivers. So, no. But, he’s a left-handed reliever who was recently on waivers, which means there will almost always be teams willing to give him a look and try to unlock something in his mechanics or repertoire.

So far, no team has been able to do so. Brennan was drafted all the way back in 2014 (and that was after a four-year stint in college, too) and has spent a lot of time riding busses as he slowly worked his way up the ladder, often as someone who was older than his competition. At one point, it looked like all was lost, as he was released fist by Cincinnati, then by Cleveland, and then spent three years playing in Mexico. But the stint in Mexico revitalized his career, and the Mariners picked him up and sent him to AAA Tacoma last season.

Brennan was pretty damn good in 2022, allowing just 18 hits in 32 innings, striking out 35, and limiting the walks while deploying a sinker/curveball combination that kept the ball on the ground.

His performance was good enough to earn him a very brief cup of coffee last year. But, unfortunately, he’s really struggled in AAA so far in 2023, as he’s given up 13 hits and 8 earned runs in just 6 innings pitched (though the strikeouts are still there.)

What’s he doing in his picture up there?

Really milking it out there on the mound, in order to give fans a clear look at the badass jerseys of the Charros de Jalisco.

Show me a cool highlight.

He has his own Youtube channel! It’s great that the Sox now have a guy with decent video editing skills.

What’s his role on the 2023 Red Sox?

Right now he isn’t on the 2023 Red Sox; he’s in Worcester, where they’ll try to fix whatever it is that’s gotten him off to such a poor start. If he does turn things around, though, you can expect to see him get a shot with the big league team as an injury replacement some time this year.