The White Sox may have landed more than a depth arm when they picked up Huascar Brazoban from the Mets this weekend. They sent two prospects to New York for the 36-year-old reliever, and on paper that might look like the kind of move that fades into the background. But for a team that badly needs pitching help, Brazoban has the look of a real late-inning weapon.
What makes him such an intriguing add is how unusual the path has been. Brazoban didn’t reach the majors until 2022, when he was already 32.
He’s now 36 and still under team control through 2029, which helps explain why he carried meaningful trade value. There’s something compelling about a player who gets to the big leagues late, after years of detours, and still ends up carving out a real role based on skill.
The numbers back that up. In 2026, Brazoban has a 2.52 ERA over 53.2 innings, with a 1.01 WHIP and 0.9 WAR from Fangraphs. He wasn’t quite at that level in 2025, but a 3.57 ERA in 63.0 innings is still strong work for a reliever.
Huascar Brazobán has 22 perfect appearances this season.
But want to see him getting out of some crazy, high leverage jams during his time with the Mets?
Sure you do. pic.twitter.com/tEbXlztmIs
- Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) August 3, 2026
So what changed for him? That part is harder to pin down.
Davy Andrews of Fangraphs pointed to Brazoban leaning more heavily on his sinker and changeup in 2026. Even so, the changeup was hit hard last year and he was still effective.
Baseball Savant shows his sinker at +8 run value this season and his changeup at +3. In 2025, his sinker was at +6 while the changeup sat at -4.
The broader picture is that his stuff has been solid for a while, and he’s never really had a truly bad major league season. His roughest year came in 2023, when he still posted a 4.14 ERA over 58.2 innings with the Miami Marlins.
The better explanation may be simpler: Brazoban has been a good pitcher for a while, just one whose profile didn’t always scream for attention. He’s more of a soft-contact arm than a bat-misser, and those types can get overlooked next to big strikeout relievers.
Baseball Savant has his Hard-Hit%, GB% and Average Exit Velocity all in the 80th to 100th percentile range year after year. His Average Exit Velocity this season is 83.9 mph, which lands in the 99th percentile, and that’s pretty normal for him.
His K% and Whiff% are more ordinary.
The road to this point was anything but ordinary. Brazoban spent 10 years in the minors before making his debut, first signing a minor league deal with the Rockies in 2012. He was in that organization on and off until 2017, reaching Double-A before electing free agency and then pitching in independent ball until the Marlins signed him in 2022.
Even in the minors, he generally pitched well. With Colorado, he put up solid numbers while working roughly 20 games a year through 2015.
He missed a season because of injury, then later elected free agency. After re-signing with the Rockies in 2017, he threw 37 games and had a 5.77 ERA in High-A and Double-A, per Fangraphs, which stands out as the only minor league season where he really struggled.
The Marlins sent him to Triple-A in 2022, the first time he reached the highest level of the minors, and that led to his major league debut. He was already pitching well in 2024 when the Mets acquired him before the trade deadline, and he continued building his reputation over the next two seasons.
For the White Sox, the fit is obvious. Brazoban has worked mostly in the sixth and seventh innings this year, and the Mets have also used him as an opener. That gives Chicago another possible way to deploy him, especially with starters who often don’t go deep.
His big-league arrival came late, but Brazoban has turned himself into a reliever who can matter right away for the White Sox.
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