Juan Brito To Miss 8 To 12 Weeks Due To Thumb Surgery

Guardians infielder Juan Brito underwent surgery today on his right thumb to address a high-grade ligament sprain and is expected to miss 8 to 12 weeks. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to relay the news and noted that Brito suffered the injury sliding into third base last Thursday. Brito is on the 40-man roster but on optional assignment. He will likely be placed on the minor league injured list. The club could recall him and place him on the major league 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot, but doing so would mean giving Brito major league pay and service time.

Brito, 23, was acquired from the Rockies in the November 2022 trade which sent Nolan Jones to Colorado. Brito was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster at the time of that trade. Jones later came back to the Guardians last month in the swap that sent Tyler Freeman to the mountains.

Not that there’s ever a good time to have surgery and miss several months, but this is perhaps an especially unfortunate time for Brito to be out of action. He is in his final option year, meaning he’ll be out of options in 2026, though it’s possible the Guardians would eventually be granted a fourth option. A player is eligible for a fourth option if they have exhausted the first three and still have less than five “full seasons”. A full season is defined as one in which the player was active in the majors or minors for at least 90 days. It appears that Brito didn’t have his first “full season” until 2022, so he would only have four seasons even if he heals up in time to hit 90 days here in 2025.

Still, option status aside, 2025 was perhaps Brito’s best chance to playing time in Cleveland since he’s primarily a second baseman. The Guardians opened up playing time at that spot by trading Andrés Giménez to the Blue Jays in the winter. In the long run, prospect Travis Bazzana likely has a claim to that job, but not immediately. He came into 2025 with just 27 games at High-A as the extent of his professional experience. He has added 16 Double-A games so far this year.

Brito has always put up good numbers in the minors but hasn’t yet been called up to the big leagues. A switch-hitter, he has shown good plate discipline skills, often walking almost as much as he strikes out. He can also provide a bit of pop and speed. Since the start of 2024, he has appeared in 160 Triple-A games. In that time, he has 17 stolen bases, 23 home runs, a 13.7% walk rate and a 15.9% strikeout rate. His .259/.369/.447 batting line leads to a wRC+ of 117. FanGraphs ranked him as the #78 prospect in all of baseball coming into this year.

Defensively, he has played all over the infield and a bit of right field. However, he’s not considered especially strong in terms of his glovework, despite that versatility. This year, he’s been kept at second and first base so far.

For now, Brito will be focused on rehabbing his thumb. It will be interesting to see where he stands when he gets back. The Guards have been splitting their second base playing time between Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann, who are both playing well. Arias has a .270/.321/.486 line and 133 wRC+ while Schneemann is at .229/.308/.457 and a 123 wRC+. Bazzana is hitting well at Double-A and it’s possible he could move to Triple-A or even the majors this year.

For the Guards, they will have a bit less infield depth for the coming weeks, though they already have a number of infielders on the active roster. They have José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio as their regulars at third and shortstop. Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana are sharing first base and the designated hitter spot. As mentioned, Arias and Schneemann are covering second. Will Wilson is also on the roster as a bench infieler. Utility guy Ángel Martínez is currently covering center field while Lane Thomas is injured, but he’s capable of playing on the dirt as well.

If another injury pops up, the healthy position players on the 40-man but not on the active roster are outfielders Will Brennan, Petey Halpin and Johnathan Rodríguez. If an infielder gets hurt in the next few months, perhaps the club would bring up one of those outfielders and have Martínez move to the infield. Or perhaps Bazzana will be in Triple-A and knocking on the door by then.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Madar, Imagn Images