The Brewers announced the signings of righty Gerson Garabito and left-hander Drew Rom to minor league contracts. Both players receive non-roster invitations to big league camp, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy.
Garabito, 30, returns to affiliated ball after a brief stint in Korea. The 6’0″ righty made 15 starts for the Samsung Lions after signing in June. Garabito pitched well, turning in a 2.64 earned run average with a 26% strikeout rate. That makes it a bit surprising that the sides didn’t work out an agreement for the 2026 season. Garabito instead will try to pitch his way back to the big leagues in Spring Training. He has a bit of major league experience, working 34 1/3 frames of 5.77 ERA ball for the Rangers between 2024-25.
The new landing spot is a nice birthday gift for Rom, who turned 26 on Monday. He’s a former fourth-round pick by Baltimore who was traded to the Cardinals in the 2023 Jack Flaherty deadline deal. Rom started eight games for St. Louis down the stretch but was bombed for an 8.02 ERA. He required shoulder surgery the following spring, leading the Cardinals to outright him off the 40-man roster at the end of the ’24 season.
Rom remained in the St. Louis system but suffered through another injury-riddled year. He began the season on the injured list as he rehabbed from the operation. Rom returned to Triple-A Memphis in the middle of May. He made four starts, giving up nine runs in 14 1/3 innings, before going back on the injured list for the remainder of the season.
That’s Drew Rom and Drew Romo both on teams now…
The best of luck to Drew Rom, who made his major league debut with the Cardinals a little over 2 years ago. Hopefully, he can overcome the injuries that have plagued him and make the major league roster for the Brewers.
Garabito could turn into some starting depth if the Brewers can work with him
Rom is the perfect example of how K/9 numbers can be deceiving. His K/9 AAA numbers have always looked good, but it’s because he allows so many baserunners and faces more hitters. His actual K% is whatever. His FB sits out at 90 and he hasn’t missed many bats at all in MLB looks so far.
K% >>> K/9
Yup!
Rom’s AAA K% is still firmly above average for his career.
He doesn’t have the stuff for that to be the case against ML hitters. Though if anyone can make a pitcher work it’s the Brewers. I hope he can carve out a role as a lefty specialist out of pen at some point. But for a guy who was barely hitting 90 pre-shoulder injury— I’d think a trip overseas soon is a likelier outcome.